Hazar for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones

Yes, it sounds like I made that name up, but I didn't - Béla Fleck is a real person and the Flecktones are a real band. And a darn good one. Check Wikipedia if you think I'm lying!

I had the opportunity to go to a Flecktones concert at the Basement the other night, and it was excellent. Technically they play progressive bluegrass music, but who really cares about that - it was just plain good music.

Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (named after Bartok, Dvorak and Janacek for those music freaks out there) is a middle aged white guy from New York who plays bluegrass/jazzy banjo incredibly well. And he has a fantastic band to play with - Vic Wooten on bass, Jeff Coffin playing that fantastic "I'm playing an amazing number of notes - who cares if they're in the scale" saxophone (and flute), and a bloke named Future Man on percussion.

I'm a percussionist, so I usually spend my time at concerts watching the drummer and trying to copy the rhythms on my legs, but Future Man defeated me. He doesn't use a conventional drum kit, instead he uses the self-made "synth-axe drumitar" - a guitar shaped midi controller with which he made some very clever drum sounds. I could not work out how he controlled everything - it kept me entralled for the whole gig.

Anyhoo, the short of this long post is to issue an emphatic hazar for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, and to assert that if they ever come to a basement near you, go and check them out.
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[Category: random_stuff]