MUSIC REVIEW: Live Béla Fleck disc produces good tunes
Artist quite possibly best banjo player in world
Tim Ruzek
Issue date: 3/7/02 Section: Spotlight
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As comedian and banjo player Steve Martin once said, "You can't play a sad tune on the banjo."
He's absolutely right, and musician Béla Fleck, considered by many as the world's best banjo player, and his band the Flecktones drive that point home on their latest live recording, "Live at the Quick."
The 14-track live disc — recorded during the summer of 2000 at shows featuring several of the band's favorite guest musicians— is full of jazzy, upbeat, instrumental and some vocal songs.
Fleck formed the Flecktones in 1989 and made their self-titled debut recording in 1990 by playing a "blu-bop" mix of jazz and bluegrass. The style of music has made the group an award-winning band. Fleck is the only musician to be nominated for Grammys in jazz, bluegrass, pop, country, spoken word, Christian, composition and world music.
Probably the best track on the disc comes toward the end when the array of musicians team up for a more contemporary version of composer Aaron Copland's "Hoedown." A familiar tune used most recently for commercials promoting American beef, Fleck and his fellow musicians bring even more life to the already upbeat country instrument.
The "Zona Mona" track starts with a catchy banjo riff opening that gradually incorporates a lively saxophone accompaniment but retains its banjo-strumming base.
"Scratch and Sniff" brings out one of the funkiest, liquid bass sounds out there as well as funked-up wind instruments. It's a unique blend of funk and bluegrass styles as the bass and saxophones switch off the spotlight with Fleck's banjo.
The track "Big Country" is a highlight for the immensely talented Fleck who again strums some banjo throughout the tune. The song is another example of the group's "big band" setup with other musicians as an otherwise country song has added musical flavors to it like jazz and Caribbean styles.
Fleck is an amazing musician and when surrounded by his Flecktones and other friends, it creates a musical experience rarely heard.