You have not heard much of Ian's music if you think Galway's ( not Galloway ) flute brings you to tears. Try listening to Ian's Divinities record or some of his solo album acoustic stuff.
Anderson was self taught, figuring out fingerings on his own in the van between gigs. Halfway through his career he discovered (because his daughter was learning flute from a real teacher) that he was fingering the notes all wrong! So he stopped and got a simple Mel Bay flute chart and retaught himself -- the right fingerings were so much easier. This was in the 90s after he'd been a professional flautist for 25 years!
Best song to showcase Ian Anderson's prowess on the flute? My God!...Live from the Isle O' Wight festival in 1970. I saw him live in Austin, Tx. on that tour. My God! wasn't released until the next year on Aqualung so nobody knew what to expect. We were all BLOWN AWAY...as you will be when you see this live performance.
I'll tell you what. I've been disinterested in Bouree for a number of years simply because I am a Tull fan and have heard it in several live performances. It has long ebbed as one of my favs. However, this rendition has a bit of life that I'm unacquainted with. Nicely done!
All Right ... Ian getting some respect! He is the best all time flautist, flutist, ever. Amazingly incredible. Bouree ... not the best song on the flute ... that was a song he learned and developed when he could not even play the flute. Also, Ian plays lots of other instruments including various whistles and wooden and bamboo flutes. Guitar, sax. And all the songs on Hocus Pocus by Focus are great ... they are a wonderful band, but not exactly rock.
"F;autist" is an afferctation. It was an invention of stuffy Victorians who wanted to sound German. It's supposed to be pronounced "Float-ist" not "Flauwt-ist". We don't say "violoanist" or "panownoist" do we? Flutist. Pronounced "floot-ist". Quit posing.
