BÃ©la Fleck's music is a three-ring circus of stylistic outreach, rooted in folk musics from around the globe, yet tethered to an American improviser's sensibility. Here, the composer and banjo

Live at the Quick

BÃ©la Fleck's music is a three-ring circus of stylistic outreach, rooted in folk musics from around the globe, yet tethered to an American improviser's sensibility. Here, the composer and banjo virtuoso is captured in full flight at a concert venue with his core band of collaborators, the Flecktones, featuring multi-reedman Jeff Coffin and the charismatic Wooten Brothers, bassist Victor and percussionist Roy (better known as Futureman). The emotional and technical range the Flecktones routinely explore is showcased in a series of adventurous solo spots: Futureman's sampled percussion and evocations of African vocal traditions on "Ovombo Summit"; Victor's rapid-fire percussive techniques and masterful use of harmonics in a moving improv based on "Amazing Grace"; and BÃ©la's crystalline adaptation of the prelude from Bach's Violin Partita No. 3. Better yet, Fleck augments his presentation with a Justice League of America-styled cabal of master musicians, who, like himself, push the envelope on instruments all too infrequently represented in jazz. Thus, we experience Andy Narell's lithe, sparkling steel drum harmonies on the Americana-inflected pathways of BÃ©la's "Big Country" and on his gorgeous solo turn, "Interlude"; Paul McCandless's airborne, lyric oboe on the reggae changes of "Lover's Leap"; the funky facility of Paul Hanson on "Scratch and Sniff" (as he transforms his bassoon with wah-wah effects until it suggests a synthesizer); and the uncanny emotional impact of Tuvan throat singer Kongar-ol Ondar, who trumps any synth player you've ever heard through his use of multiphonics in the Mongolian vocal tradition. --Chip Stern
Country USA
Brand SONY MUSIC
Manufacturer Sony Legacy
Binding Audio CD
ItemPartNumber 696998635524
ReleaseDate 2002-02-26
UnitCount 1
Format Live
UPCs 696998635524
EANs 0696998635524

Country	USA
Brand	SONY MUSIC
Manufacturer	Sony Legacy
Binding	Audio CD
ItemPartNumber	696998635524
ReleaseDate	2002-02-26
UnitCount	1
Format	Live
UPCs	696998635524
EANs	0696998635524

Live at the Quick

You might also like...