Alvin Fisher was born and raised in Washington, D.C. He started playing the flute at an early age and was influenced by some of the great musicians of the 20th century -- people like Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and the great Frank Wess. As a teenager in the 1970’s, Alvin grew up with and played with many musicians who became local and national music legends. As a teenager, he recorded with and became a member of the group Skip Mahoney & the Casuals. Their records are still played on the radio today. Influenced by the R&B music of the 70’s, Alvin has been playing a funky type of smooth jazz flute in recent years. In 2001, while working at XM Radio, Alvin was asked to record the company logo, a series of notes that identifies the radio. NBC does the same thing with its three tones so that when you hear it, you know you are watching NBC. He has since done many such logos for different XM channels including Watercolors. So, most of the time when you hear the XM logo done on flute, it is probably one of the versions Alvin has recorded. With XM’s 8.5 million subscribers, he has been heard all over the country by many people who have not yet heard of him.
In 2005, while attending the Old Pasadena Jazz Festival, Alvin met two very important people that would help shape his musical destiny -- Mark Vrabel and Tony Labarbera, the two businessmen who created the All Star Smooth Jazz Cruise. They invited Alvin and his wife to join them on their first cruise hosted by Rick Braun and told him to be sure to bring his flute. On that cruise, Alvin got to play with many musicians such as Rick Braun, Mindi Abair, Euge Groove, Brian Culbertson, Eric Darius, Pamela Williams, Marion Meadows, Nick Colionne and many other smooth jazz greats in nightly jam sessions. He was accepted and received so well that he was invited back to play on the 2nd Annual All Star Smooth Jazz Cruise hosted by Brian Culbertson. This cruise featured many of the same musicians from the first cruise and some folks he already knew as friends, but had never played with before, such as Norman Brown, Michael Manson, Bobby Lyle, Candy Dulfer, Chance Howard and Ricky Lawson. In helping to promote the All Star Smooth Jazz Cruises, Alvin has played at the Old Pasadena Jazz Festival in California, the House of Blues in Chicago and the Berks Jazz Festival in Pennsylvania.
Alvin has been working on a new CD with his friend and super producer,drummer Michael Corbett. The first song to be released as a single, which also features his son Alvin Fisher II playing guitar, is ”La La (Means I Love You),” a smooth jazz version of the old Delphonics hit. The new CD is titled “ABSOFLUTELY.” Alvin says, “I am very grateful to be able to play the type of music that people enjoy and hope that they like listening to me.”
Great finding you on here my friend ! I'll check out the cd ! I have a gold flute ready to lamp. It is a cheap ebay one that was new. A good looker for sure..great chatting..have a blessed holiday! Lampman Jake
