Béla Fleck
Encyclopedia
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo
player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival
and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
.
, New York
, and is named after famous Hungarian composer Béla Bartók
, Austrian composer Anton Webern
, and Czech composer Leoš Janáček
. He was drawn to the banjo when he first heard Earl Scruggs
play the theme song for the television show Beverly Hillbillies. He received his first banjo at age fifteen from his grandfather (1973). Later, Fleck enrolled in New York City's High School of Music and Art
where he studied the French horn. He was a banjo student under Tony Trischka
.
Almost immediately after high school, Fleck traveled to Boston
to play with Jack Tottle
, Pat Enright, and Mark Schatz
in Tasty Licks. During this period, Fleck released his first solo album (1979): Crossing the Tracks and made his first foray into progressive bluegrass
composition.
Fleck played on the streets of Boston with bassist Mark Schatz; and the two, along with guitarist/vocalist Glen Lawson and mandolin great Jimmy Gaudreau, formed Spectrum: the Band in 1981. Fleck toured with Spectrum during 1981. That same year, Sam Bush
asked Fleck to join New Grass Revival
. Fleck performed with New Grass Revival for nine years. During this time, Fleck recorded another solo album, Drive. It was nominated for a Grammy Award
in the then first-time category of "Best Bluegrass Album" (1988).
During the 1980s Fleck and Bush also performed live occasionally with Doc Watson
and Merle Watson in various bluegrass festivals, most notably the annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
.
Béla Fleck and Victor Wooten
formed Béla Fleck and the Flecktones in 1988, along with keyboardist and harmonica player Howard Levy
and Wooten's percussionist brother Roy "Future Man" Wooten, who played synthesizer-based percussion. Levy left the group in 1992, making the band a trio until saxophonist Jeff Coffin
joined the group onstage in 1997. His first studio recording with the band was their 1998 album Left of Cool. Coffin left the group in 2008 to replace Dave Mathews' Band saxophonist, LeRoi Moore. Howard Levy rejoined the Flecktones in 2009. Bela Fleck and the original Flecktones went on to record Rocket Science, and tour in 2011.
With the Flecktones, Fleck has been nominated for and won several Grammy awards. (Cf. Grammy sections below.)
, Alison Brown
, and Edgar Meyer
. He has been nominated in more categories than any other musician, namely country
, pop
, jazz
, bluegrass
, classical, folk
, spoken word
, composition
, and arranging
.
In 2001, Fleck collaborated with long-time friend and playing-partner Edgar Meyer
to record Perpetual Motion
, an album of classical material played on the banjo along with an assortment of accompanists, including John Williams
, Evelyn Glennie
, Joshua Bell
and Gary Hoffman. The album includes selections such as Chopin
's Etude
Op. 10 No. 4 in C# minor, Debussy
's Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum, and Paganini
's Moto Perpetuo (from which is derived the name), as well as more lyrical pieces such as the first movement of Beethoven
's Moonlight Sonata
, two of Chopin's mazurka
s, and two Scarlatti
keyboard sonatas. Perpetual Motion won two Grammys at the Grammy Awards of 2002
for Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Arrangement for Fleck and Meyer's arrangement of Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum. Fleck and Meyer have also composed a double concerto
for banjo and bass, and performed its debut with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra
.
Fleck names Chick Corea
, Charlie Parker
, and the aforementioned Earl Scruggs
as influences. He regards Scruggs as "certainly the best" banjo player of the three-finger style.
Solo and with the Flecktones, Fleck has appeared at Telluride Bluegrass Festival
, Merlefest
, Montreal International Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival, Newport Folk Festival
, Austin City Limits Music Festival
, Shakori Hills, Bonnaroo, and Jazzfest, among others.
He has also appeared as a sideman with artists ranging from Tony Rice
to Dave Matthews Band
to Ginger Baker
and Phish
. One notable appearance with the Dave Matthews Band, along with the rest of the Flecktones, resulted in the longest singular live song in DMB history, #41, at 32:03 in length.
In 2005, while the Flecktones were on hiatus, Fleck undertook several new projects: recording with African traditional musicians; cowriting a documentary film called Bring it Home about the Flecktones' first year off in 17 years and their reunion after that time; coproducing Song of the Traveling Daughter, the debut album by Abigail Washburn
(a young banjo player who mixes bluegrass
and Chinese music); forming the acoustic fusion
supergroup
Trio!
with fellows Jean-Luc Ponty
and Stanley Clarke
, and recording an album as a member of the Sparrow Quartet
(along with Abigail Washburn
, Ben Sollee
, and Casey Driessen
).
In late 2006, Fleck teamed up with Chick Corea
to record an album, The Enchantment, released in May 2007. Fleck and Corea toured together throughout 2007.
As a follow-up to the Fleck/Meyer double concerto mentioned above, the two were commissioned for a trio concerto, for which they teamed up with Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain
. It debuted in Nashville in 2006 and was later recorded for a CD, The Melody of Rhythm. The trio subsequently toured together in 2009 and 2010.
In July 2007 at the Winnipeg Folk Festival
, he appeared and jammed with Toumani Diabaté
, a kora player from Mali. He is also scheduled to play the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival with Toumani Diabaté.
Fleck has also played with Malian ngoni
(ancestor of the banjo) player Cheick Hamala Diabate
.
In December 2007, he performed charity concerts in Germany to help promote AIDS awareness. His largest concert was held in Grosse Halle Bern on December 1, 2007.
On June 13, 2008, he performed as part of The Bluegrass Allstars, composed of bluegrass heavyweights Sam Bush, Luke Bulla, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton, and Jerry Douglas at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
The next day Fleck performed with Abigail Washburn
and the Sparrow Quartet
at the same festival.
In 2009, an independent film documentary of Fleck's visit to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali, was released to limited run engagements in US cities. "Throw Down Your Heart" was directed by Sascha Paladino, Fleck's half brother. It was filmed during Fleck's year off from touring with the Flecktones.
Fleck premiered his Concerto for Banjo in Nashville, Tennessee on September 22, 2011, performing with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra
, which commissioned the work.
as his "girlfriend", both to play in a scratch band composed of wedding party members. In May 2009, the Bluegrass Intelligencer satirized the upcoming "strategic marriage" of Washburn and Fleck, joking that the couple promise to have a "male heir" who will be the "Holy Banjo Emperor". In February 2010, The Aspen Times reported that Washburn had become Fleck's wife in the previous year. In a July 2010 interview, Washburn said she first met her husband in Nashville at a square dance—she was dancing and he was playing.
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival
New Grass Revival
New Grass Revival was an American progressive bluegrass band founded in 1971, and composed of Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Ebo Walker, Curtis Burch, Butch Robins, John Cowan, Béla Fleck and Pat Flynn. They were active between 1971 and 1989, releasing more than twenty albums as well as six singles....
and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones have toured extensively...
.
Early life and career details
Fleck was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and is named after famous Hungarian composer Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, Austrian composer Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
, and Czech composer Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
. He was drawn to the banjo when he first heard Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs
Earl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...
play the theme song for the television show Beverly Hillbillies. He received his first banjo at age fifteen from his grandfather (1973). Later, Fleck enrolled in New York City's High School of Music and Art
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is a high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Center and the Juilliard School in the Lincoln Center district of Manhattan, on Amsterdam Avenue...
where he studied the French horn. He was a banjo student under Tony Trischka
Tony Trischka
Tony Trischka is an American five-string banjo player.-Biography:Tony Trischka was born in Syracuse, New York, and graduated from Syracuse University with a B.A in Fine Arts, and was inspired to play the banjo in 1963, listening to the Kingston Trio's "Charlie and The MTA". Trischka was a...
.
Almost immediately after high school, Fleck traveled to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
to play with Jack Tottle
Jack Tottle
Jack Tottle is an American bluegrass musician, singer, mandolin player, songwriter, music teacher and author.-Biography:...
, Pat Enright, and Mark Schatz
Mark Schatz
Mark Schatz is an American bassist, banjoist, mandolinist, and clogger who has recorded and toured with artists such as albums for artists such as Bela Fleck, Nickel Creek, Jerry Douglas, Maura O'Connell, Tony Rice, John Hartford, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, and Tim O'Brien...
in Tasty Licks. During this period, Fleck released his first solo album (1979): Crossing the Tracks and made his first foray into progressive bluegrass
Progressive bluegrass
Progressive bluegrass is one of two major subgenres of bluegrass music. It is also known as newgrass, a term attributed to New Grass Revival member Ebo Walker. Musicians and bands John Hartford, New Grass Revival, J.D. Crowe and the New South, The Dillards, Boone Creek, Country Gazette, and the...
composition.
Fleck played on the streets of Boston with bassist Mark Schatz; and the two, along with guitarist/vocalist Glen Lawson and mandolin great Jimmy Gaudreau, formed Spectrum: the Band in 1981. Fleck toured with Spectrum during 1981. That same year, Sam Bush
Sam Bush
Sam Bush is an American bluegrass mandolin player considered an originator of the Newgrass style.- History :...
asked Fleck to join New Grass Revival
New Grass Revival
New Grass Revival was an American progressive bluegrass band founded in 1971, and composed of Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Ebo Walker, Curtis Burch, Butch Robins, John Cowan, Béla Fleck and Pat Flynn. They were active between 1971 and 1989, releasing more than twenty albums as well as six singles....
. Fleck performed with New Grass Revival for nine years. During this time, Fleck recorded another solo album, Drive. It was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in the then first-time category of "Best Bluegrass Album" (1988).
During the 1980s Fleck and Bush also performed live occasionally with Doc Watson
Doc Watson
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
and Merle Watson in various bluegrass festivals, most notably the annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Telluride Bluegrass Festival is held annually in Telluride, Colorado by . Although traditionally the festival focuses on bluegrass music, it often features music from a variety of genres. In 1974, its first year, it attracted 1000 participants. Currently the festival's attendance is capped at 10,000...
.
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Victor Wooten
Victor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass player, composer, author, and producer, and has been the recipient of five Grammy Awards....
formed Béla Fleck and the Flecktones in 1988, along with keyboardist and harmonica player Howard Levy
Howard Levy
Howard Levy is a Grammy Award–winning, American harmonicist, pianist, composer, and producer....
and Wooten's percussionist brother Roy "Future Man" Wooten, who played synthesizer-based percussion. Levy left the group in 1992, making the band a trio until saxophonist Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin is an American jazz and alternative rock musician best known as the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. In addition to the saxophone, he plays clarinet, flute and oboe.-Biography:...
joined the group onstage in 1997. His first studio recording with the band was their 1998 album Left of Cool. Coffin left the group in 2008 to replace Dave Mathews' Band saxophonist, LeRoi Moore. Howard Levy rejoined the Flecktones in 2009. Bela Fleck and the original Flecktones went on to record Rocket Science, and tour in 2011.
With the Flecktones, Fleck has been nominated for and won several Grammy awards. (Cf. Grammy sections below.)
Other music and recordings
Fleck has shared Grammy wins with Asleep at the WheelAsleep at the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel is a American country music group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, but based in Austin, Texas. Altogether, they have won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception. In their career, they have released more than twenty studio albums, and have charted more than twenty...
, Alison Brown
Alison Brown
Alison Brown is an American banjo player and guitarist known for a soft nylon-string banjo sound. She has won and has been nominated on several Grammy awards and is often compared to another banjo prodigy, Béla Fleck for her unique style of playing...
, and Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
. He has been nominated in more categories than any other musician, namely country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, classical, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
, composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
, and arranging
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
.
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
to record Perpetual Motion
Perpetual Motion (album)
Perpetual Motion is an album of classical music released in 2001. The album is unique in that none of the pieces featured on it are played on the instruments for which they were written. Arrangers Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer won a Grammy in 2002 for their arrangement of Claude Debussy's "Doctor...
, an album of classical material played on the banjo along with an assortment of accompanists, including John Williams
John Williams (guitarist)
John Christopher Williams is an Australian classical guitarist, and a long-term resident of the United Kingdom. In 1973, he shared a Grammy Award win in the 'Best Chamber Music Performance' category with Julian Bream for Julian and John .-Biography:John Williams was born on 24 April 1941 in...
, Evelyn Glennie
Evelyn Glennie
Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, DBE is a Scottish virtuoso percussionist. She was the first full-time solo percussionist in 20th-century western society.-Early life:Glennie was born and raised in Aberdeenshire...
, Joshua Bell
Joshua Bell
Joshua David Bell is an American Grammy Award-winning violinist.-Childhood:Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, the son of a psychologist and a therapist. Bell's father is the late Alan P...
and Gary Hoffman. The album includes selections such as Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
's Etude
Étude
An étude , is an instrumental musical composition, most commonly of considerable difficulty, usually designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular technical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popularity of the piano...
Op. 10 No. 4 in C# minor, Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
's Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum, and Paganini
Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique...
's Moto Perpetuo (from which is derived the name), as well as more lyrical pieces such as the first movement of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Moonlight Sonata
Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata , was completed in 1801...
, two of Chopin's mazurka
Mazurka
The mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...
s, and two Scarlatti
Domenico Scarlatti
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style...
keyboard sonatas. Perpetual Motion won two Grammys at the Grammy Awards of 2002
Grammy Awards of 2002
The 44th Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 2002. The biggest was Alicia Keys, winning 5 Grammys, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'". U2 won 4 awards including Record of the Year and Best Rock Album.-Award winners:...
for Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Arrangement for Fleck and Meyer's arrangement of Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum. Fleck and Meyer have also composed a double concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
for banjo and bass, and performed its debut with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra
Nashville Symphony Orchestra
The Nashville Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in Nashville, Tennessee. The orchestra performs 140 concerts annually.-History:...
.
Fleck names Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
, Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, and the aforementioned Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs
Earl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...
as influences. He regards Scruggs as "certainly the best" banjo player of the three-finger style.
Solo and with the Flecktones, Fleck has appeared at Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Telluride Bluegrass Festival is held annually in Telluride, Colorado by . Although traditionally the festival focuses on bluegrass music, it often features music from a variety of genres. In 1974, its first year, it attracted 1000 participants. Currently the festival's attendance is capped at 10,000...
, Merlefest
MerleFest
MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College . The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, is hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson and is named in memory and honor of his son, Eddy Merle Watson,...
, Montreal International Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival, Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
, Austin City Limits Music Festival
Austin City Limits Music Festival
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is an annual three-day American music festival that takes place in Austin, Texas at the city's central public park, Zilker Park...
, Shakori Hills, Bonnaroo, and Jazzfest, among others.
He has also appeared as a sideman with artists ranging from Tony Rice
Tony Rice
Tony Rice is an American acoustic guitarist and bluegrass musician. He is considered one of the most influential acoustic guitar players in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from traditional bluegrass to jazz-influenced New...
to Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
to Ginger Baker
Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith. He is also known for his numerous associations with World music, mainly the use of African influences...
and Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
. One notable appearance with the Dave Matthews Band, along with the rest of the Flecktones, resulted in the longest singular live song in DMB history, #41, at 32:03 in length.
In 2005, while the Flecktones were on hiatus, Fleck undertook several new projects: recording with African traditional musicians; cowriting a documentary film called Bring it Home about the Flecktones' first year off in 17 years and their reunion after that time; coproducing Song of the Traveling Daughter, the debut album by Abigail Washburn
Abigail Washburn
Abigail Washburn is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet.-Biography:...
(a young banjo player who mixes bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
and Chinese music); forming the acoustic fusion
Fusion (music)
A fusion genre is music that combines two or more styles. For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm, i a sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided...
supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
Trio!
TRIO!
Trio! was a one-time acoustic jazz fusion supergroup during 2005. It consisted of bassist Stanley Clarke , jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty , and banjoist Béla Fleck .Much of the material performed by Trio! was from The Rite of Strings, with Fleck...
with fellows Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty is a French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer.- Early years:Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians on 29 September 1942 in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano...
and Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores...
, and recording an album as a member of the Sparrow Quartet
Sparrow Quartet
The Sparrow Quartet is an American acoustic music group that formed in 2005. Its members include Abigail Washburn , Béla Fleck , Casey Driessen , and Ben Sollee...
(along with Abigail Washburn
Abigail Washburn
Abigail Washburn is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet.-Biography:...
, Ben Sollee
Ben Sollee
Ben Sollee is a cellist and vocalist known for his percussive playing style, genre hopping songwriting, wide appeal, and political activism. His music incorporates banjo, guitar, percussion and unusual cello techniques to create a unique mix of folk, bluegrass, jazz and R&B.-Musical career:Raised...
, and Casey Driessen
Casey Driessen
Casey Christopher Driessen is an American bluegrass fiddler and singer. He plays acoustic and electric five-string violins, each of which has an additional low C string....
).
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
to record an album, The Enchantment, released in May 2007. Fleck and Corea toured together throughout 2007.
As a follow-up to the Fleck/Meyer double concerto mentioned above, the two were commissioned for a trio concerto, for which they teamed up with Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain (musician)
Zakir Hussain , , is an Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer.-Early life:Hussain was born in Mumbai, India to the legendary tabla player Alla Rakha. He attended St...
. It debuted in Nashville in 2006 and was later recorded for a CD, The Melody of Rhythm. The trio subsequently toured together in 2009 and 2010.
In July 2007 at the Winnipeg Folk Festival
Winnipeg Folk Festival
The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a summer folk music festival held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It features a variety of folk artists from all around the world, as well as a number of local folk performers....
, he appeared and jammed with Toumani Diabaté
Toumani Diabaté
Toumani Diabaté is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles.-Biography:...
, a kora player from Mali. He is also scheduled to play the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival with Toumani Diabaté.
Fleck has also played with Malian ngoni
Ngoni (instrument)
The ngoni or "n'goni" is a string instrument originating in West Africa. Its body is made of wood or calabash with dried animal skin stretched over it like a drum. In the hands of a skilled ngoni instrumentalist, the ngoni can produce fast rapid melodies...
(ancestor of the banjo) player Cheick Hamala Diabate
Cheick Hamala Diabaté
Cheick Hamala Diabate is a musician from Mali, West Africa who has been nominated for a Grammy award. Using Adelphi, Maryland as his home he travels all over the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. He has performed at the Kennedy Center, the United States Senate, and the Smithsonian...
.
In December 2007, he performed charity concerts in Germany to help promote AIDS awareness. His largest concert was held in Grosse Halle Bern on December 1, 2007.
On June 13, 2008, he performed as part of The Bluegrass Allstars, composed of bluegrass heavyweights Sam Bush, Luke Bulla, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton, and Jerry Douglas at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
The next day Fleck performed with Abigail Washburn
Abigail Washburn
Abigail Washburn is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet.-Biography:...
and the Sparrow Quartet
Sparrow Quartet
The Sparrow Quartet is an American acoustic music group that formed in 2005. Its members include Abigail Washburn , Béla Fleck , Casey Driessen , and Ben Sollee...
at the same festival.
In 2009, an independent film documentary of Fleck's visit to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali, was released to limited run engagements in US cities. "Throw Down Your Heart" was directed by Sascha Paladino, Fleck's half brother. It was filmed during Fleck's year off from touring with the Flecktones.
Fleck premiered his Concerto for Banjo in Nashville, Tennessee on September 22, 2011, performing with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra
Nashville Symphony Orchestra
The Nashville Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in Nashville, Tennessee. The orchestra performs 140 concerts annually.-History:...
, which commissioned the work.
Personal life
In August 2007 at Paladino's wedding, Fleck brought Abigail WashburnAbigail Washburn
Abigail Washburn is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet.-Biography:...
as his "girlfriend", both to play in a scratch band composed of wedding party members. In May 2009, the Bluegrass Intelligencer satirized the upcoming "strategic marriage" of Washburn and Fleck, joking that the couple promise to have a "male heir" who will be the "Holy Banjo Emperor". In February 2010, The Aspen Times reported that Washburn had become Fleck's wife in the previous year. In a July 2010 interview, Washburn said she first met her husband in Nashville at a square dance—she was dancing and he was playing.
Banjos played
- Nechville Meteor Electric Banjo made by Nechville Musical Products
- Nechville Nextar Banjo made by Nechville Musical Products
- Deering Crossfire Banjo made by the Deering Banjo CompanyDeering Banjo CompanyThe Deering Banjo Company was started in 1975 by Greg and Janet Deering. They are located in Spring Valley, California. Deering Banjos makes Deering, Vega, Tenbrooks, and Goodtime banjos.-A Master Luthier's Beginnings:...
- Deering Tenbrooks Saratoga Star made by the Deering Banjo CompanyDeering Banjo CompanyThe Deering Banjo Company was started in 1975 by Greg and Janet Deering. They are located in Spring Valley, California. Deering Banjos makes Deering, Vega, Tenbrooks, and Goodtime banjos.-A Master Luthier's Beginnings:...
- Deering John Hartford banjo made by Deering Banjo CompanyDeering Banjo CompanyThe Deering Banjo Company was started in 1975 by Greg and Janet Deering. They are located in Spring Valley, California. Deering Banjos makes Deering, Vega, Tenbrooks, and Goodtime banjos.-A Master Luthier's Beginnings:...
- Gibson TB-75 Flathead banjo with reproduction five-string neck
- Rickenbacker Banjo - Looks like a 360.
- Gold Tone Cello Banjo
Discography
Grammy awards
- 1995
- Best Country Instrumental PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Country Instrumental PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance was awarded from 1970 to 2011. Between 1986 and 1989 the award was presented as the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance ....
, Hightower by Asleep at the WheelAsleep at the WheelAsleep at the Wheel is a American country music group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, but based in Austin, Texas. Altogether, they have won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception. In their career, they have released more than twenty studio albums, and have charted more than twenty...
with Béla Fleck and Johnny GimbleJohnny GimbleJohn Paul Gimble , better known as Johnny Gimble, is an American country musician associated with Western swing. He is an award-winning fiddle player and considered one of the most impressive fiddlers in the genre's history....
- Best Country Instrumental Performance
- 1996
- Best Pop Instrumental PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance was awarded between 1969 and 2011.*In 1969 it was awarded as Best Contemporary-Pop Performance, Instrumental*From 1970 to 1971 it was awarded as Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance...
, The Sinister Minister by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones (with Sam BushSam BushSam Bush is an American bluegrass mandolin player considered an originator of the Newgrass style.- History :...
& Paul McCandlessPaul McCandlessPaul McCandless, Jr. is an American jazz woodwind player and composer. He is one of few expert jazz oboists, and also plays English horn, soprano saxophone, sopranino saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet, and pennywhistle, among other instruments.He has performed with the Paul Winter Consort and is...
)
- Best Pop Instrumental Performance
- 1998
- Best Instrumental CompositionGrammy Award for Best Instrumental CompositionThe Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of the music.There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:...
, Almost 12 by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones
- Best Instrumental Composition
- 2000
- Best Contemporary Jazz AlbumGrammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality contemporary jazz performances...
, Outbound by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones - Best Country Instrumental PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Country Instrumental PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance was awarded from 1970 to 2011. Between 1986 and 1989 the award was presented as the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance ....
, Leaving Cottondale by Alison BrownAlison BrownAlison Brown is an American banjo player and guitarist known for a soft nylon-string banjo sound. She has won and has been nominated on several Grammy awards and is often compared to another banjo prodigy, Béla Fleck for her unique style of playing...
and Béla Fleck
- Best Contemporary Jazz Album
- 2001
- Best Instrumental ArrangementGrammy Award for Best Instrumental ArrangementThe Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement has been awarded since 1963. The award is presented to the arranger of the music.There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:...
, Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum from Children's Corner Suite (Debussy) by Béla Fleck and Edgar MeyerEdgar MeyerEdgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger... - Best Classical Crossover AlbumGrammy Award for Best Classical Crossover AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album was awarded from 1999 to 2011.The award will be discontinued from 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. Basically, the Best Classical Crossover Album category will disappear. If a classical crossover release is a non-classical artist...
, Perpetual MotionPerpetual Motion (album)Perpetual Motion is an album of classical music released in 2001. The album is unique in that none of the pieces featured on it are played on the instruments for which they were written. Arrangers Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer won a Grammy in 2002 for their arrangement of Claude Debussy's "Doctor...
by Béla Fleck with Edgar Meyer, Joshua BellJoshua BellJoshua David Bell is an American Grammy Award-winning violinist.-Childhood:Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, the son of a psychologist and a therapist. Bell's father is the late Alan P...
, and others
- Best Instrumental Arrangement
- 2006
- Best Contemporary Jazz AlbumGrammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality contemporary jazz performances...
, The Hidden LandThe Hidden LandThe Hidden Land is the eighth studio album and twelfth album overall released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 2006. It was recorded before the band's year-long hiatus during 2005 and released afterward...
by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones
- Best Contemporary Jazz Album
- 200951st Grammy AwardsThe 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
- Best Pop Instrumental AlbumGrammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality instrumental albums in the pop music genre...
, Jingle All The Way by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones
- Best Pop Instrumental Album
- 201052nd Grammy AwardsThe 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
- Best Pop Instrumental PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance was awarded between 1969 and 2011.*In 1969 it was awarded as Best Contemporary-Pop Performance, Instrumental*From 1970 to 1971 it was awarded as Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance...
, Throw Down Your Heart by Béla Fleck - Best Contemporary World Music AlbumGrammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists between 2004 and 2011 for quality contemporary world music albums...
, Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3 by Béla Fleck
- Best Pop Instrumental Performance
- 201153rd Grammy AwardsThe 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
- Best Contemporary World Music AlbumGrammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists between 2004 and 2011 for quality contemporary world music albums...
, Throw Down Your Heart, Africa Sessions Part 2: Unreleased Track by Béla Fleck
- Best Contemporary World Music Album
Grammy nominations
Béla Fleck has been nominated in more categories than any other musician in Grammy history.- 2009
- Best Contemporary World Music Album Throw Down Your Heart
- Best Pop Instrumental Performance Throw Down Your Heart
- Best Classical Crossover Album The Melody Of RhythmThe Melody of RhythmThe Melody of Rhythm is a latest album by banjoist Béla Fleck. After returning from Africa and recording "Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3: Africa Sessions", Fleck put together the musical trio, consisting of him, Tabla player Zakir Hussain and bassist Edgar Meyer to record this album. They...
- 2008
- Pop Instrumental Album Jingle All The Way
- Country Instrumental Performance Sleigh Ride (from Jingle All The Way)
- 2006
- Pop Instrumental Subterfuge (from The Hidden LandThe Hidden LandThe Hidden Land is the eighth studio album and twelfth album overall released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 2006. It was recorded before the band's year-long hiatus during 2005 and released afterward...
)
- Pop Instrumental Subterfuge (from The Hidden Land
- 2005
- Country Instrumental Who's Your Uncle (from Best Kept Secret by Jerry DouglasJerry DouglasJerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
) - Contemporary Jazz Album Soulgrass by Bill EvansBill Evans (saxophonist)Bill Evans is an American jazz saxophonist. His father was a classical piano prodigy and until junior high school Evans studied classical clarinet. Early in his studies he was able to hear such artists as Sonny Stitt and Stan Getz live at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago...
- Country Instrumental Who's Your Uncle (from Best Kept Secret by Jerry Douglas
- 2002
- Country Instrumental Performance Bear Mountain Hop (from The Country Bears Soundtrack)
- 2000
- Pop Instrumental Zona Mona (from Outbound)
- 1999
- Bluegrass Bluegrass Sessions
- 1998
- Pop Instrumental Big Country (from Left Of CoolLeft of CoolLeft of Cool is the fifth studio album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1998.-History:Left of Cool is the first album to feature Jeff Coffin, who had already toured with the band after the departure of Howard Levy...
) - Country Instrumental The Ride (from Restless On the Farm by Jerry DouglasJerry DouglasJerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
)
- Pop Instrumental Big Country (from Left Of Cool
- 1996
- World Music Tabula Rasa
- 1995
- Country Instrumental Cheeseballs In Cowtown (from The Bluegrass Sessions: Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 2The Bluegrass Sessions: Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 2The Bluegrass Sessions: Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol.2 is an album by Béla Fleck. Going back to his bluegrass roots, Fleck put together a band of all-stars of the genre: Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Tony Rice, Mark Schatz, Vassar Clements, John Hartford and others...
)
- Country Instrumental Cheeseballs In Cowtown (from The Bluegrass Sessions: Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 2
- 1994
- Spoken Word For Children The Creation by Amy GrantAmy GrantAmy Lee Grant is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, media personality and actress, best known for her Christian music. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop"...
- Spoken Word For Children The Creation by Amy Grant
- 1992
- Jazz Instrumental Magic Fingers (from UFO TofuUFO TofuUFO Tofu is the third album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1992. The title is a palindrome, which is also a musical theme in the title track, according to the album's liner notes.- Reception :...
)
- Jazz Instrumental Magic Fingers (from UFO Tofu
- 1991
- Jazz Album Flight of the Cosmic HippoFlight of the Cosmic HippoFlight of the Cosmic Hippo is the second album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1991. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. The album title came from an audience member who suggested "Flight of the Codeine Hippo" as a name for the title track...
- Jazz Instrumental Blu-Bop
- Jazz Album Flight of the Cosmic Hippo
- 1990
- Jazz Album Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
- Jazz Instrumental
- 1989
- Country Instrumental Bigfoot (from Friday Night In America by New Grass RevivalNew Grass RevivalNew Grass Revival was an American progressive bluegrass band founded in 1971, and composed of Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Ebo Walker, Curtis Burch, Butch Robins, John Cowan, Béla Fleck and Pat Flynn. They were active between 1971 and 1989, releasing more than twenty albums as well as six singles....
- Country Instrumental Bigfoot (from Friday Night In America by New Grass Revival
- 1988
- Bluegrass album Drive
- 1987
- Country Instrumental Metric Lips (from Hold to a Dream by New Grass RevivalNew Grass RevivalNew Grass Revival was an American progressive bluegrass band founded in 1971, and composed of Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Ebo Walker, Curtis Burch, Butch Robins, John Cowan, Béla Fleck and Pat Flynn. They were active between 1971 and 1989, releasing more than twenty albums as well as six singles....
)
- Country Instrumental Metric Lips (from Hold to a Dream by New Grass Revival
- 1986
- Country Instrumental Seven By Seven (from New Grass Revival by New Grass RevivalNew Grass RevivalNew Grass Revival was an American progressive bluegrass band founded in 1971, and composed of Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Ebo Walker, Curtis Burch, Butch Robins, John Cowan, Béla Fleck and Pat Flynn. They were active between 1971 and 1989, releasing more than twenty albums as well as six singles....
)
- Country Instrumental Seven By Seven (from New Grass Revival by New Grass Revival
Further reading
- Gray, Michael (1998). "Béla Fleck". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 174–5.
External links
- BelaFleck.com - Bela Fleck Official website
- Flecktones.com - Flecktones Official Website