THE ORKON FLUTE BY EDWARD V. POWELL

• -Dedicated to the memory of Edward V. Powell, musician and inventor (1903 - 1986) 

Since 2012 I use the ORKON flute for my own music. I got to know about the flute when I researched the musical instrument inventor Edward V. Powell, son of Vernon Q. Powell who founded the Powell flute company.

Only a few hundred of these instruments were built between 1942 and 1952, most of them in '51-'52 like mine, made from bakelite. 

The earliest of these instruments was known as a "Chromette", and the earliest of those were made of a light-colored wood, an example of which is pictured above. There may also be some that are made of a very dark wood, such as grenadilla possibly. Later Chromettes were made of the same material (Bakelite) that all Orkons are made of. Chromettes and Orkons are the *same* instrument with different names. It was a marketing issue that caused E. V. Powell to change the name, not a technical one.

E.V. Powell was an accomplished clarinetist and saxophonist and performed with many well-knwon musicians in New York City including the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, Alec Wilder Octet and Ray Ellis . His other known invention is a saxophone which was manufactured in small numbers as an alto and tenor by Buffet Crampon, the “Buffet Powell”. 

Early wooden “Chromette”, below the bakelite version.

I learned about the flute from Nancy and Ted Jerome. Ted set up a long gone website researching the work of his father, Richard W. “Dick” Jerome, who worked as a flute builder for Vernon Q. Powell, Inc.,and for Vernon Powell building the Orkon flute. Ted was delighted to hear that an instrument built by his father was used to play jazz in Germany. Here are more photos and a fingering table of the ORKON:

Powell´s hope that the ORKON would conquer a new market for beginners but would be used by professionals as well did unfortunately not become true, the market for innovative new musical instruments is resistant.

Buffet Powell Alto Saxophone, patented 1936.