I've known
Mr. Fleck's name for a few years, mostly because of his "
Ten from little worlds album", and if I weren't lazy (and ill) I would post some songs from that album as well.. All the time I thought he was the bass player, or the composer or the guitar player, but I never thought he was the
banjo player. Yes, banjo.. and quite good at that too.. He's even won a grammy!.
The music of
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, is hard to label, he's using banjo but not making country music, the songs are a melodic fusion of bluegrass, jazz, world music, funk and whatever comes their way.. eclectic to say the least. The Flecktones are a great band as well, they are not a `support` band to
Bela Fleck, but they are great musicians themselves.
Their new one "
The Hidden Land" is clearly the best album I've listened to in February, once again it has more than enough songs to choose from. The first song is lead by a soothing flute melody, with great basswork in the middle. The second song is lead by Bela's banjo, and has a 90s pop-jazz approach to it, be sure not to miss this album, as it has great instrumentation and many more cool melodies/songs. This is avant bluegrass (ok I've made that up.) at its best, and should I add .. no vocals!
And finally Here's a Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Live on Youtube - playing Scratch and Sniff.. great video!