By Maria Sherman
No one was expecting it. Late last year, André 3000 released his debut solo album, “New Blue Sun,” 18 years after his legendary rap group Outkast’s last studio album, “Idlewild.”
But “New Blue Sun” has “no bars,” he jokes. It’s a divergence from rap because “there was nothing I was liking enough to rap about, or I didn’t feel it sounded fresh. I’m not about to serve you un-fresh (expletive.)”
Instead, he offered up a six-track instrumental album of ambient alt-jazz — with special attention paid to the flute.
“The sound, that’s how I got into it,” he says of the instrument. “The portability, too. You can’t tote around a piano and play in Starbucks.”
He’s also invested in the flute’s history — like learning about Mayan flutes made from clay, a design he had re-created in cedarwood. “There’s all kinds of fables and, you know, indigenous stories that go along
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