Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and post-bop, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, to perform on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones consist of Béla Fleck on acoustic and electric banjo, Victor Wooten on bass, his brother, Roy Wooten (a.k.a. Future Man) on Drumitar, Howard Levy on harmonica and keyboard and Jeff Coffin on saxophone
The Flecktones have toured extensively since then, often playing over
200 concerts per year. Each of the current members of the quartet has
released at least one solo album. The band's name is a play on the name
of the 1960s rock band Dick Dale and the Del-Tones.
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is the first album by the band of the same name, released in 1990. It reached number 17 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. At the Grammy Awards of 1997, a live version of "The Sinister Minister", a track from the album, won the Best Pop Instrumental Performance award.
After disbanding New Grass Revival, Bela Fleck began re-creating the role of the banjo in the same way Charlie Parker redefined the role of the saxophone. But Fleck may be the least-innovative member of this quartet: Howard Levy gets chromatics from his blues harp, Victor Wooten picks banjo rolls on his bass, and Roy "Future Man" Wooten
plays a Frankenstein-monster drum-machine/guitar synthesizer. For all
the flash, there's little pretense; the group's astonishing musicianship
keeps an "aw-shucks" accessibility that lets everybody follow the
melody while they marvel.
When bluegrass banjo whiz Bela Fleck formed the Flecktones in 1990 with
jazz pianist Howard Levy, funk bassist Victor Wooten, and
electronic-drummer Roy Wooten, it seemed like just one more of those
new-acoustic music bands that appear and disappear in Nashville with
depressing regularity. There was something special about this quartet,
though, for it used its peculiar instrumentation not as an end in itself
but as a means to three albums of startling melodicism, improvisation,
and feeling. At the end of 1992, Levy amicably departed to spend more
time with his family and his own music. Rather than hire a new fourth
member, Fleck and the Wootens have tried to compensate for his absence
by an increased reliance on synthesizer sounds that they can trigger
from their instruments and floor pedals. This has led to less emphasis
on melody, harmony, and feeling and an increased emphasis on rhythm and
showy virtuosity.
It always amazes me when I spy albums by the Flecktones tucked away in
the new age or "miscellaneous" sections of record stores. Fleck has
surely bent the boundaries of genre with his mind-altering banjo
virtuosity, but the core of this music is JAZZ, even for a purist like
myself. This album, one of only three with harmonica/keyboards stud
Howard Levy, is a particular treat in the ensemble -- Future Man will
make a believer of those who pooh-pooh digital percussion as "canned" or
"fake." Most important here are the tunes -- "Sinister Minister" may
well be the "Perdido" or "Caravan" of the next century. A marvelous
record to be in every futuristic jazzophile's collection!
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones self titled album is easily one of their
best and most impreesive albums. The musicianship on the album is
incredible, especially with Fleck's incredible picking and Wooten's
impossible bass lines. Many of the songs are great, with no bad ones.
Some of the highlights are Hurricane Camille, Sunset Road, Reflections
of Lucy and the song that really stands out above the rest, Sinister
Minister. Sinister is not only very funky, it is also an extremely hard
to play songs, especially Wooten's bass solo in the middle.
This album is great for musicians and fans of bluegrass and jazz. Overall a very impressive album that deserves recognition.
Track listing:
All songs by Béla Fleck unless otherwise noted.
"Sea Brazil" – 3:43
"Frontiers" – 6:08
"Hurricane Camille" – 2:38
"Half Moon Bay" – 5:09
"The Sinister Minister" – 4:38
"Sunset Road" – 5:04
"Flipper" – 4:21
"Mars Needs Women: Space is a Lonely Place" – 5:01
"Mars Needs Women: They're Here" – 3:30
"Reflections of Lucy" (B. Fleck/John Lennon/Paul McCartney) – 3:38
"Tell It to the Gov'nor" – 4:06
Single
The only single from this album was "The Sinister Minister". The music video received heavy airplay on MTV and VH1 back in the early 90s. The video was so popular, it was featured on an episode of VH1's Pop-Up Video and won a Grammy in 1997, despite it being a 1990 song.
Personnel:
Béla Fleck – banjo
Howard Levy – diatonic harmonica (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 8-11), synth (tracks 5, 11), synthesizers (tracks 5, 6, 8, 10), piano (tracks 1-4, 6, 7, 10), Jew's harp (track 2), güiro (track 5)
Roy "Future Man" Wooten – Synth-Axe Drumitar
Victor Wooten – bass
Camille Harrison (uncredited) - vocals (track 6)
Some websites claim additional musicians participated on this album, but these are not supported by the liner notes. However, in the notes from the band's next album, Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, apologies and credit for vocal work is given to Camille Harrison for the track "Sunset Road".
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