List of recorder players

A recorder player is a musician who plays the recorder, a flute-like woodwind musical instrument. The recorder is often used in teaching the rudiments of music, as it is cheap to buy and relatively easy to play at a certain level of accomplishment (although its mastery is as demanding as that of any other instrument). Because of this widespread use of the recorder, the list of people who can play it is enormous.

This article lists three categories of people: first, those who are notable recorder players and are widely recognised as performers on the instrument; second, those who are not famous as recorder players but who have used the instrument as a notable feature of their work; and, third, people who are famous for some other reason but are known to be recreational players of the recorder.

List of notable recorder players

• Aldo Abreu
• Piers Adams
• Giovanni Antonini
• Tom Beets
• Rachel Begley
• Erik Bosgraaf
• Marlon Brando
• Benjamin Britten
• Frans Brüggen
• Anthony Burgess
• Michael Copley
• Gregory D. Cole
• James Dean
• Patrick Denecker
• Umberto Eco
• Robert Ehrlich
• Brian Gulland (of Gryphon)
• Rodney Hall, Australian novelist
• Richard Harvey (of Gryphon originally)
• Jimmy Hendrix
• Paul Hindemith
• Imogen Holst
• Peter Holtslag
• Bob Hope
• Keith Jarrett
• Brian Jones, Rolling Stone
• Erich Katz
• Jill Kemp
• Hans Maria Kneihs
• Bernard Krainis
• Dan Laurin
• Laurie Lee, English writer
• Hans-Martin Linde
• John Manifold, Australian poet & scholar
• Matthias Maute
• Paul McCartney, Beatle
• Andrew McKee (of the Brobdingnagian Bards)
• Yehudi Menuhin
• David Munrow
• Mani Neumann
• Carlos Núñez
• Mark Oliver
• Peter Pears
• Samuel Pepys
• Michala Petri
• Philip Pickett
• Gábor Prehoffer
• Barnaby Ralph
• Jef Raskin, 'Father of the Macintosh'
• Ashley Solomon
• Bruce Springsteen
• Richard Stallman, Internet Gnuru
• Maurice Steger
• Sufjan Stevens
• John Updike
• Linda Turbett
• Marion Verbruggen
• Arthur Waley, English poet and translator
• Petr Zejfart

Other musicians who have made notable use of the recorder

• Terry Kirkman of the Association frequently played recorder on Windy, Along Comes Mary, etc.
• Jimi Hendrix played soprano recorder in some of his studio recordings
• Bob Homme used the recorder as part of his children's TV show, The Friendly Giant
• Rahsaan Roland Kirk featured the recorder on several of his recordings.
• Keith Jarrett played recorder on his album The Survivors' Suite
• Billy Joel played the recorder on Cold Spring Harbor.
• Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) notably played the recorder in the song Ruby Tuesday
• John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) played several recorders in the studio recording of Stairway to Heaven
• Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane played the recorder on the albums Surrealistic Pillow (most notably in "Comin' Back to Me" and "How Do You Feel"), After Bathing at Baxter's and Volunteers.
• Paul McCartney (The Beatles) occasionally uses the recorder in his music (e.g. The Fool on the Hill)
• Bon Scott played recorder during his pre-AC/DC career in the band Fraternity
• Bruce Springsteen plays recorder on some of his tracks
• Dido studied recorder at the junior department of London's Guildhall School of Music & Drama and most famously plays it on the track Thank You from her debut album No Angel
• Mick Ronson, glam-rock guitarist, producer and arranger played multi-tracked recorders on David Bowie's "Life on Mars?" and on Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love"
• Gary Brooker and Matthew Fisher of Procol Harum played the recorder on the track "Boredom" on their third album, "A Salty Dog".
• Roy Wood from The Move would play recorder frequently on The Move's albums.
• Steve Page of the Barenaked Ladies played the recorder on "Helicopters" on their album "Maroon (album)".
• Emma Christian, native Manx Gaelic singer and folk artist plays the recorder in place of the more traditional tin whistle.
• Jowan Merckx plays many recorders and also whistles in folkgroup Amorroma.
• Sarah Martin (of Belle & Sebastian)

Notable people who also play the recorder

• James Dean apparently learnt to play Bach on the recorder
• Patrick Troughton, who often played while in character as the Second Doctor in Doctor Who
• Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, author of The Name of the Rose
• George Bernard Shaw
• Richard Stallman
• Sarah Vowell
• Rainn Wilson who also plays the recorder while in character as Dwight Schrute in The Office
• Rasmus Fleischer
• Bonnie Wright
• Paul McCartney, Beatle, taught by mother of Jane Asher (famous cook, actress etc.)
• Bruce Springsteen, popular singer

External links

• A large list of links for recorder players