Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Encyclopedia
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass
, fusion
and jazz
, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS
series Lonesome Pine Specials. 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.
plays acoustic and electric banjo
s, mixing a bluegrass and folk sound into a modern improvisational style. Fleck has received Grammy nominations for performances in the jazz, bluegrass, pop, spoken word, contemporary Christian, gospel, classical, and country categories—more categories than any other musician.
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones use bluegrass, fusion of jazz, or anything else that catches their interest. They leave their music open to inspiration and have recently been incorporating a lot of African instruments. Because of the great variety in music Fleck has been nominated for awards in jazz, bluegrass, pop, spoken word, contemporary Christian, gospel, classical, and country categories. Some Grammy awards include the 1995 Best Country Instrumental performance, 1996 Best Pop Instrumental performance, 1998 Best Instrumental Composition, 2000 Best contemporary Jazz Album, 2001 Best Instrumental Arrangement, 2006 Best Contemporary Jazz Album, and 2008 Best Pop Instrumental Album. Because they adopt so many musical styles it is hard to place Bela Fleck and the Flecktones into a single musical category and just as their music is diverse, so is their audience.
The largest category under which the group can be and has been categorized is bluegrass music. This is music that is a product of industrial age and is derived from folk music and has global followers.
Brothers Victor Wooten
and Roy "Future Man" Wooten
form the rhythm section
. Victor Wooten is widely lauded in jazz and bass-playing circles for his sometimes hyperkinetic slap and pop technique on bass guitar
, and many consider him the leading bass virtuoso in music today. Futureman – the group’s percussionist created the “drumitar” (a modified SynthAxe
rigged to play percussion samples instead of a synthesizer), which is his innovation and contribution to the music.
Membership in the Flecktones has changed little since the band released its eponymous first album
. Harmonica
and keyboard
player Howard Levy
appeared on the Flecktones' first three albums. After Levy's departure, Fleck and the Wooten Brothers regrouped on the album Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
, the title a reference to Ken Kesey
's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin
joined the band beginning with the album Left of Cool
.
The band went on an amicable year-long hiatus throughout 2005, during which the individual members toured frequently in other configurations. The Flecktones were active and touring again in 2006.
Wooten was also a judge for the 4th annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists' careers.
On September 30, 2008, the band released Jingle All the Way
, their new holiday album. It received critical praise as well as one Grammy Award
and one nomination in 2009
.
Bela Fleck’s motivation for going to Africa was to discover the origins of the banjo, an African instrument. He wanted to break down the stereotype that it is a white man’s instrument/music. He was also trying to discover the original banjo prototype there. Released in 2009, “Throw Down Your Heart” is a film about Bela Fleck’s travels to Africa to explore the roots of the banjo and to record an album with African musicians. While in Africa Fleck travels through Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali where he overcomes cultural and language obstacles through music.
The Flecktones toured in 2010 with founding member and harmonica player Howard Levy for the first time in 18 years under the moniker "Béla Fleck and the Original Flecktones". The band returned to touring with Coffin for their holiday tour.
In 2011, a new album, titled Rocket Science, was released. It is an album of new material with the original Flecktones lineup, as Coffin is now playing full time with the Dave Matthews Band
.
Videography
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
series Lonesome Pine Specials. 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.
History
Frontman Béla FleckBéla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
plays acoustic and electric banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
s, mixing a bluegrass and folk sound into a modern improvisational style. Fleck has received Grammy nominations for performances in the jazz, bluegrass, pop, spoken word, contemporary Christian, gospel, classical, and country categories—more categories than any other musician.
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones use bluegrass, fusion of jazz, or anything else that catches their interest. They leave their music open to inspiration and have recently been incorporating a lot of African instruments. Because of the great variety in music Fleck has been nominated for awards in jazz, bluegrass, pop, spoken word, contemporary Christian, gospel, classical, and country categories. Some Grammy awards include the 1995 Best Country Instrumental performance, 1996 Best Pop Instrumental performance, 1998 Best Instrumental Composition, 2000 Best contemporary Jazz Album, 2001 Best Instrumental Arrangement, 2006 Best Contemporary Jazz Album, and 2008 Best Pop Instrumental Album. Because they adopt so many musical styles it is hard to place Bela Fleck and the Flecktones into a single musical category and just as their music is diverse, so is their audience.
The largest category under which the group can be and has been categorized is bluegrass music. This is music that is a product of industrial age and is derived from folk music and has global followers.
Brothers Victor Wooten
Victor Wooten
Victor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass player, composer, author, and producer, and has been the recipient of five Grammy Awards....
and Roy "Future Man" Wooten
Future Man
Roy Wilfred Wooten , also known as "RoyEl", best known by his stage name Future Man , is an inventor, musician, and composer...
form the rhythm section
Rhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
. Victor Wooten is widely lauded in jazz and bass-playing circles for his sometimes hyperkinetic slap and pop technique on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, and many consider him the leading bass virtuoso in music today. Futureman – the group’s percussionist created the “drumitar” (a modified SynthAxe
SynthAxe
The SynthAxe is a fretted, guitar-like MIDI controller, created by Bill Aitken, Mike Dixon, and Tony Sedivy and manufactured in England in the middle to late 1980s. It is a musical instrument that uses electronic synthesizers to produce sound and is controlled through the use of an arm resembling...
rigged to play percussion samples instead of a synthesizer), which is his innovation and contribution to the music.
Membership in the Flecktones has changed little since the band released its eponymous first album
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones (album)
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...
. Harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
and keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
player Howard Levy
Howard Levy
Howard Levy is a Grammy Award–winning, American harmonicist, pianist, composer, and producer....
appeared on the Flecktones' first three albums. After Levy's departure, Fleck and the Wooten Brothers regrouped on the album Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is the fourth album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1993. It is the band's only release as a trio, after the departure of Howard Levy but before the arrival of Jeff Coffin.- Reception :...
, the title a reference to Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey. Set in an Oregon asylum, the narrative serves as a study of the institutional process and the human mind, as well as a critique of Behaviorism and a celebration of humanistic principles. Written in 1959, the novel was adapted into a...
. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin is an American jazz and alternative rock musician best known as the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. In addition to the saxophone, he plays clarinet, flute and oboe.-Biography:...
joined the band beginning with the album Left of Cool
Left of Cool
Left of Cool is the fifth studio album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1998.-History:Left of Cool is the first album to feature Jeff Coffin, who had already toured with the band after the departure of Howard Levy...
.
The band went on an amicable year-long hiatus throughout 2005, during which the individual members toured frequently in other configurations. The Flecktones were active and touring again in 2006.
Wooten was also a judge for the 4th annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists' careers.
On September 30, 2008, the band released Jingle All the Way
Jingle All the Way (Béla Fleck and the Flecktones album)
Jingle All the Way is a Christmas album and the thirteenth album overall by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Released in 2008 under Rounder, it marks the band's first record since their departure from Columbia. Jingle All the Way reached #1 on the Top Contemporary Jazz chart, the group's first album...
, their new holiday album. It received critical praise as well as one Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
and one nomination in 2009
51st Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
.
Bela Fleck’s motivation for going to Africa was to discover the origins of the banjo, an African instrument. He wanted to break down the stereotype that it is a white man’s instrument/music. He was also trying to discover the original banjo prototype there. Released in 2009, “Throw Down Your Heart” is a film about Bela Fleck’s travels to Africa to explore the roots of the banjo and to record an album with African musicians. While in Africa Fleck travels through Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali where he overcomes cultural and language obstacles through music.
The Flecktones toured in 2010 with founding member and harmonica player Howard Levy for the first time in 18 years under the moniker "Béla Fleck and the Original Flecktones". The band returned to touring with Coffin for their holiday tour.
In 2011, a new album, titled Rocket Science, was released. It is an album of new material with the original Flecktones lineup, as Coffin is now playing full time with the Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
.
Discography
| Title | Year | Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Béla Fleck and the Flecktones Béla Fleck and the Flecktones (album) 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... |
1990 | Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies... |
||
| Flight of the Cosmic Hippo Flight of the Cosmic Hippo Flight of the Cosmic Hippo is the second album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1991. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. The album title came from an audience member who suggested "Flight of the Codeine Hippo" as a name for the title track... |
1991 | Warner Bros. | ||
| UFO Tofu UFO Tofu UFO Tofu is the third album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1992. The title is a palindrome, which is also a musical theme in the title track, according to the album's liner notes.- Reception :... |
1992 | Warner Bros. | ||
| Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is the fourth album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1993. It is the band's only release as a trio, after the departure of Howard Levy but before the arrival of Jeff Coffin.- Reception :... |
1993 | Warner Bros. | ||
| Live Art Live Art Live Art is the fifth album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and their first non-studio album. It was recorded live at various concerts between 1992 and 1996 and features ten guest musicians.... |
1996 | Warner Bros. | ||
| Left of Cool Left of Cool Left of Cool is the fifth studio album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1998.-History:Left of Cool is the first album to feature Jeff Coffin, who had already toured with the band after the departure of Howard Levy... |
1998 | Warner Bros. | ||
| Greatest Hits of the 20th Century Greatest Hits of the 20th Century Greatest Hits of the 20th Century is the seventh album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and their first greatest hits compilation album.- Reception :... |
1999 | Warner Bros. | ||
| Outbound | 2000 | Columbia Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company... |
||
| Live at the Quick Live at the Quick Live at the Quick is the ninth album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and their second live album. It was recorded live at the Quick Center For The Arts in Fairfield, Connecticut in 2000.- Reception :... |
2002 | Columbia | ||
| Little Worlds Little Worlds Little Worlds is the tenth album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 2003. The album was released as a 3-disc set. Ten tracks from the set were also released on a single disc called Ten from Little Worlds.... |
2003 | Columbia | ||
| Ten From Little Worlds Little Worlds Little Worlds is the tenth album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 2003. The album was released as a 3-disc set. Ten tracks from the set were also released on a single disc called Ten from Little Worlds.... |
2003 | Columbia | ||
| The Hidden Land The Hidden Land The Hidden Land is the eighth studio album and twelfth album overall released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 2006. It was recorded before the band's year-long hiatus during 2005 and released afterward... |
2006 | Sony | ||
| Jingle All the Way Jingle All the Way (Béla Fleck and the Flecktones album) Jingle All the Way is a Christmas album and the thirteenth album overall by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Released in 2008 under Rounder, it marks the band's first record since their departure from Columbia. Jingle All the Way reached #1 on the Top Contemporary Jazz chart, the group's first album... |
2008 | Rounder Rounder Records Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students... |
||
| Rocket Science Rocket Science (Béla Fleck and the Flecktones album) Rocket Science is a studio album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 2011. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Jazz chart and number 36 on the Top Independent Albums chart.... |
2011 | eOne Records |
Videography
- Live at the QuickLive at the QuickLive at the Quick is the ninth album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and their second live album. It was recorded live at the Quick Center For The Arts in Fairfield, Connecticut in 2000.- Reception :...
(2002) - Flight of the Cosmic HippoFlight of the Cosmic HippoFlight of the Cosmic Hippo is the second album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1991. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. The album title came from an audience member who suggested "Flight of the Codeine Hippo" as a name for the title track...
(1991)
Grammy awards
- 1997Grammy Awards of 1997The 39th Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1997. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Babyface & Eric Clapton for "Change the World"*Album of the Year...
- Best Pop Instrumental PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance was awarded between 1969 and 2011.*In 1969 it was awarded as Best Contemporary-Pop Performance, Instrumental*From 1970 to 1971 it was awarded as Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance...
, "The Sinister Minister"
- Best Pop Instrumental Performance
- 2001
- Best Contemporary Jazz AlbumGrammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality contemporary jazz performances...
, Outbound
- Best Contemporary Jazz Album
- 2007
- Best Contemporary Jazz Album, The Hidden LandThe Hidden LandThe Hidden Land is the eighth studio album and twelfth album overall released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 2006. It was recorded before the band's year-long hiatus during 2005 and released afterward...
- Best Contemporary Jazz Album, The Hidden Land
- 200951st Grammy AwardsThe 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
- Best Pop Instrumental Album, Jingle All the WayJingle All the Way (Béla Fleck and the Flecktones album)Jingle All the Way is a Christmas album and the thirteenth album overall by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Released in 2008 under Rounder, it marks the band's first record since their departure from Columbia. Jingle All the Way reached #1 on the Top Contemporary Jazz chart, the group's first album...
- Best Pop Instrumental Album, Jingle All the Way
External links
- Official band web site
- Béla Fleck's web site
- Victor Wooten's web site
- Future Man's web site
- Another Future Man web site
- Howard Levy's web site
- Jeff Coffin's web site
- Bela Fleck Interview with Jarrod Dicker (Nov2009)
- Béla Fleck and the Flecktones collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive