Usually around this time of year, R. Carlos Nakai can sit back and wait for the pleasant rush of the holidays.
Not this year.
His fall has been a busy rush of performances: two days in Flagstaff in early September, three in Sedona in early October chased by four days in California then a solo gig in Colorado. Nine days later in late October, he jetted to Philadelphia for a show that came just as the freaky nor'easter hit the East Coast and dumped an early snow.
If everything goes as planned, Nakai's final performance of the year will be Friday's Sky Island Alliance benefit.
The benefit might turn out to be one of Nakai's 2011 highlights, a chance to share the stage with classical guitarist Gabriel Ayala for a cause he strongly supports for cultural and environmental reasons.
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"Living out here on the northwest side, we are right adjacent to the wilderness and all of our coyotes, our quail, our doves, our Cooper's hawks and our javelina are always around the house," said Nakai, who has lived in Tucson about 25 years. "We are always aware of the fact that living ecology is important to us on a personal level. … We should be looking at it in a more serious light to try to retain it."
He and Ayala's concert will include solo works before the pair team up for a "musical adventure" that was, when we spoke last week, a work in progress.
"Some of it will be based on what we work with when we travel and tour," Nakai, 65, explained. "It's going to be, as we always say, one of a kind, and it will be just for the people who will be in attendance and it will never be performed again, anywhere."
The evening also includes presentations by Sky Island officials discussing the group's conservation efforts in the Sky Island region of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.
After Friday's concert, Nakai said he will turn his attention to more relaxing concerns: Thanksgiving in Hawaii with his family and friends.
If you go
• What: Sky Island Alliance benefit concert.
• Featuring: Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai and classical guitarist Gabriel Ayala.
• When: 6:30 p.m. Friday.
• Where: Grace St. Paul Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St.
• Tickets: $65 which includes an appetizer reception. Available at Yikes Toys, 2930 E. Broadway; Tucson Audubon Nature Shop, 300 E. University Blvd., No. 120, at the corner of Fifth Avenue; Madaras Gallery/Skyline, 3001 E. Skyline Drive.
