There is little to say that hasn’t already been said about an artist who, at only 50, has been nominated in more categories than any other musician in Grammy history : country, pop, jazz, bluegrass, classical, folk, spoken word, composer and arranger, etc…but beyond his many achievements in 30 years of a rich musical career, to speak about Bela Fleck is always to speak of innovation, voyage, encounters and adventure. It is even more relevant today as the brilliant banjo player from New-York has just released a new album that summarizes perfectly the philosophy and nomadic spirit of Groovalizacion radio and could be defined in two elements: the backpack and the other.
After rejuvenating bluegrass, recreating pieces by Debussy and Chopin with his banjo, playing as a non jazz musician in the biggest jazz festival in the world, experimenting with fusions of banjo and India or Chinese music, it was only a matter of time before this adventurer started to pluck the strings of his instrument to African melodies and voices. So in 2005, after 17 years with his band the Fleckstones, Bela Fleck took some time off and traveled to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, Mali, South Africa and Madagascar to unearth the little known African roots of the banjo, an instrument brought to the coasts of North America by the slaves. This journey gave birth last year to “Throw down your heart”. Over the course of jam sessions and musical complicity Fleck converses with artists such as vocal band Nakisenyi, Anania Ngoliga, D’Gary, Toumani Diabaté, singer Oumou Sangaré and Ngoni virtuoso Bassekou Kouyaté. Encounters in which the talented and sensible Fleck listens with great humility. Far from trying to stand out, he just wants to share and learn.
This album is in fact the soundtrack of Sascha Paladino’s documentary of the same name, which narrates Bela Fleck’s encounters and recordings and provides a glimpse of the beauty and complexity of African music as well as a sense of hospitality sometimes forgotten in the West.
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