Pennsylvania-born Paul McCandless inherited his passion from his music-teaching parents. An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, McCandless took up a number of wind instruments, including the oboe, the bass clarinet and several folk flutes. In 1971, the musician was a finalist in the English horn auditions held by the New York Philharmonic. At the time, McCandless was playing with world jazz quartet Oregon, which also comprised of Ralph Towner, Glen Moore and Colin Walcott, formerly of Paul Winter's Consort. The wind man started a successful solo career at the end of the 1970s. He also collaborated on many a project with the likes of Béla Fleck, Pat Metheny and Al Jarreau. Recorded with the help of pianist Art Lande, Shapeshifter came out in 2004.