Norda Mullen

Norda Mullen (born April 26, 1960 in Savannah , Tennessee ) is an American, classically trained pop musician . She became internationally known as a member of the touring band Moody Blues , with whom she has been playing the flute and rhythm guitar and singing harmonies since 2003 .

Mullen, who comes from a Georgian-Greek family in Tennessee, had taught herself the flute solo played by Ray Thomas in Nights in White Satin as a twelve-year-old student before studying the instrument seriously at Northwestern University from 1978. She later earned money as a studio musician and instrumentalist for television and feature film soundtracks; She also played in the bands Cause for Passion , Evil Twin and Bahu Rang . The latter, actually a duo of Mullen and Jo Pusateri, released the album Just Try to Walk in 1998 , on which Norda Mullen plays various other instruments besides the flute.

The contact with the Moody Blues had existed since Justin Hayward's 1996 solo tour in California , where Mullen had accompanied him on some appearances as a flautist. After Ray Thomas left, Mullen became his successor. She has been on stage on all touring with the Moody Blues since then and can also be heard on the studio album December (2003), although she was not officially introduced as a new band member. Their attractiveness and strong stage presence, initially not appreciated by all fans, as well as their virtuoso playing gave the Moody Blues live performances - in a critical phase for the band - a new dynamic.

Norda Mullen has also worked with Randy Newman , for example on his album Harps & Angels (2008). Her first solo CD entitled Norda was released in 2014. Mullen currently lives in Richmond, London .

Web links

• Homepage of Norda Mullen
• Bio by Norda Mullen at Resonance Flute Consort , accessed November 19, 2018.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Anecdote told about her in: Kristin Baver, Norda Mullen Living the Pipe Dream , in: Higher & Higher # 46/47, Geneva (USA) 2004