Brian Dunning (21 December 1951 – 10 February 2022) was an Irish flautist and composer, largely known for being a member of the Celtic band
Nightnoise. He had both Celtic and jazz influences early on. He studied jazz and classical music, and was a student of
James Galway
Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". After several years working as an orchestral musician, he established an international career as a solo flute pl ...
.
He taught music for a short while at Ashlyns School in Berkhamstead, in the United Kingdom. He studied at the
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...
in 1977.
Dunning played the flute and panpipe in Puck Fair, a primarily instrumental "Irish jazz" group formed in New York in 1984 that played traditional Irish songs and original compositions.
[ They released the album ''Fairplay'' on the Lost Lake Arts/Windham Hill label in 1987, with Dunning on flute and drummer Tommy Hayes on bodhran, joined by various musicians including ]Mícheál Ó Domhnaill
Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (; 7 October 1951 – 7 July 2006) was an Irish singer, guitarist, composer, and producer who was a major influence on Irish traditional music in the second half of the twentieth century. He is remembered for his innovat ...
. The group was later reformed in Dublin with Dunning, guitarist Sean Whelan, and percussionist Robbie Harris, releasing the album ''Forgotten Carnival'' on their own label in 2008. He collaborated with keyboardist Jeff Johnson since the late 1980s, recording several albums together, including ''Songs from Albion'' (1992), ''The Music of Celtic Legends – the Bard and the Warrior'' (1997), ''Byzantium'' (2000), and ''Patrick'' (2004).
Brian was a member in the extraordinary band Nightnoise since 1987.
Dunning performed on the soundtrack to ''Gangs of New York'', '' Windhorse'', and '' The Outcasts''.
Dunning died on 10 February 2022, at the age of 70.Jazz musician Brian Dunning dies aged 70
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Selected discography
With Jeff Johnson and Wendy Goodwin
* ''Under the Wonder Sky'' (2010)
* ''Winterfold'' (2013)
* ''If I Do Not Remember...'' (2016)
* ''Kohelet'' (2020)
* ''Coming, Going'' (2022)
See also
* Jeff Johnson
References
External links
*
*
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1952 births
2022 deaths
Berklee College of Music alumni
Irish classical flautists
Nightnoise members
Place of birth missing
20th-century Irish male composers
21st-century Irish male composers
Place of death missing
20th-century Irish flautists
21st-century Irish flautists