Eventually, Dave wound up at New York s famed High School of Music and Art, specializing in percussion. Valentin humors the audience with tales of how he struggled to curry favor with a pretty young classmate by fooling around with her flute. To his surprise he found that he enjoyed the instrument, and through diligent practice he soon surpassed her own abilities. He didn't get the girl, but had discovered his true musical calling. The flute is an instrument that has few true specialists in either jazz or Latin music.
Most flutists are saxophonists who play it as a second instrument, known as doublers.
As he explains to the audience, Valentin's earliest influences on his instrument came from the Latin side, including such masters as Richard Egues from the Cuban dance band Orquesta Aragon. Later he discovered jazz flutists Lew Tabackin, Frank Wess, James Moody, and Joe Farrell, all of whom were doublers. Not satisfied with the standard flute, Valentin has gone on to experiment with many different kinds of flutes, which he demonstrates for the audience, including a Columbian flute and the rather cumbersome bass flute. In developing his own flute style, Valentin demonstrates a number of different effects during the program. Among these effects are singing through the flute, and electronic enhancements of the instrument.