The NYC concert calendar chills out a bit this week. But there’s still plenty of action, including a jam-packed weekend of shows that’s going to set up some tough decisions. Here’s the week’s highlight reel… READ MORE
Béla Fleck
I caught this late yesterday but just not getting around to posting the news update from the 23rd Annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam. The lineup hit the wires yesterday with Phil & Friends, Gov’t Mule, Los Lobos and Bela Fleck all sitting at the top with plenty more yet to be announced. It’s a doozy for fans of the Haynes and Friends style uber jam that lasts hours and hours into the Asheville night. >>>
Last night Bela Fleck & the Flecktones returned to New Orleans to play House of Blues with a full-on “reunited” original band now featuring Howard Levy in the place that Jeff Coffin had most recently been filling. Here’s a video that just surfaced from the show...
WHY: The Original lineup of the Flecktones reformed recently for the first time in nearly two decades, putting out the band’s first album of new material in six years with Rocket Science. Piano/harmonica virtuoso Howard Levy (aka “The Man With Two Brains”) steps back into the band, filling the void left by sax man Jeff Coffin, who has had his hands-full on the road as a full-time touring member of the Dave Matthews Band.
Béla Fleck has released more details surrounding his Concerto for Banjo and Orchestra planned for September 22-24 with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Very cool.
Béla Fleck will present the world premiere of his Concerto for Banjo and Orchestra — one of the first ever written for the instrument — with the Nashville Symphony on September 22-24 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center. To be performed by Fleck on his vintage 1937 mahogany Gibson Mastertone banjo, the Concerto marks a significant new departure for Fleck, who calls the piece “a liberating experience for my efforts as a composer and hopefully for the banjo as well.” Commissioned by the Nashville Symphony, Concerto for Banjo and Orchestra will be the centerpiece of the orchestra’s opening concerts in the 2011/12 SunTrust Classical Series.
The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival has announced its 2011 lineup, featuring HSB mainstays like Bela Fleck, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, and Robert Plant, alongside less bluegrass-ey artists like Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene, Buckethead, Fitz & the Tantrums, Kurt Vile & the Violators, and MC Hammer (no, seriously; he’s running the annual children’s program). The three-day music festival is FREE and will take place September 30th through October 2nd in Golden Gate Park (at the Speedway Meadow).
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2011 Lineup: READ MORE
You may remember me gushing recently about how much I enjoyed the Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain set while I was at High Sierra; easily some of the best music I heard all weekend.
The trio just stopped by NPR and proceeded to blow their minds as well.
“Beyond category.” That’s what Duke Ellington used to call musicians who were simply the best at what they do. And that’s certainly the case for Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain. Individually, they’re world-class masters of the banjo, the bass fiddle and the tabla, respectively. They conquered mere technical prowess long ago.
Highly recommended.
Photo by Justin Ward
By 3pm on the second day of High Sierra, I felt like I had already seen a few living legends in the flesh with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band set and Nels Cline’s jazz-fusion set to start the day. But I was not prepared at all to see Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer, another absolute highlight of the festival for me. With a sunny and hot afternoon sun beating down on the main stage crowd, this power trio of jazz/folk musicians brought some of the most beautiful music to this festival that I’ve ever heard performed live. I didn’t listen ahead of time and I knew what sort of music to expect from Bela, but the addition of tablas and upright bass rounded out the sound and seemed fitting for the mountains of Northern California.
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend this festival from a photographer’s perspective, which meant that I was standing just 10 feet from these musicians and watching on with folks like Marc Friedman standing right next to me. The music, the setting, the vibe, the feeling — it was stunning. I had the hugest grin when I went back to meet my friends after I shot the set; truly inspiring. READ MORE
