Customer Reviews

Bela Fleck & The Flecktones

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It always amazes me when I spy albums by the Flecktones tucked away in the new age or "miscellaneous" sections of record stores. Fleck has surely bent the boundaries of genre with his mind-altering banjo virtuosity, but the core of this music is JAZZ, even for a purist like myself. This album, one of only three with harmonica/keyboards stud Howard Levy, is a particular treat in the ensemble -- Future Man will make a believer of those who pooh-pooh digital percussion as "canned" or "fake." Most important here are the tunes -- "Sinister Minister" may well be the "Perdido" or "Caravan" of the next century. A marvelous record to be in every futuristic jazzophile's collection!

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones self titled album is easily one of their best and most impreesive albums. The musicianship on the album is incredible, especially with Fleck's incredible picking and Wooten's impossible bass lines. Many of the songs are great, with no bad ones. Some of the highlights are Hurricane Camille, Sunset Road, Reflections of Lucy and the song that really stands out above the rest, Sinister Minister. Sinister is not only very funky, it is also an extremely hard to play songs, especially Wooten's bass solo in the middle.

This album is great for musicians and fans of bluegrass and jazz. Overall a very impressive album that deserves recognition.

I was playing banjo and harmonica in a Bluegrass/Folk band back in the early 1990's when one day our fiddler gave me a copy of this CD. I'm not sure whether he meant for me to play like Bela Fleck and Howard Levy at the same time, but this recording certainly had a tremendous impact on me.

The Flecktones starts bass player Victor Wooten and from there on it gets weird. There "drummer", Roy "Future Man" Wooten plays a guitar/synthesiser, tapping out rhythms than would be the envy of any conventional drummer. Harmonica master Howard Levy plays notes on his harmonica that aren't even there. No kidding. I've had the chance to study with Howard and I'm only beginning to get the concept of doing the previously impossible. Banjo player Bela Fleck achors this group. Fleck plays Fusion Jazz/Bluegrass banjo in a way that is both appealing to conventional tastes and delighting to those who love "Out There" Jazz.

This melding of odd talents makes for one of the most revolutionary groups to explode onto the music scene in a long time. You absolutely must include this album in your collection. Give it a listen. Give it several listenings. It will change your perspective.

This album is fascinating and fantastic. I'm a big jazz fan, and sometimes I'm disappointed with the new stuff, but this album is an exception. I love bluegrass/country, and to see a banjo incorporated into a jazz scheme was a wonderful surprise. I love the songs here, "Sinister Minister" of course is THE COOLEST darn song around and funks like nobody's business.

This cd is excellent! The harmonica really makes the music. If you're a fan of melodic/modern jazz, you will love this. It is very easy to listen to, and appeals to people of all ages who have an open mind. The musicianship is excellent, and the recording is very good. This cd, in particular, is a Bela Fleck must have... it is open and honest, without the over-synthesized sound of the later Bela/Flecktone recordings.

Very different type of music, goes from songs like Half Moon Baby which is a gorgeous smooth song, with a good harmonica solo, to songs like Flipper which is just a funky type of song, really good album definately buy it.

If you have been through the Flecktone collection of CDs and don't have this one, this will show you where much of their ideas began. There has a unique "airiness" to it that the following recordings do not quite possess. The beauty of this is the ablilty it gives you to separate the instruments out in your mind while listening, and really begin to understand the God-given talent of each musician and how they put it all together as a group. From simply beautiful ballads to experiments with different musical time signatures.

This CD is before they got "big", still working in night clubs and playing in schools...traveling around from venue to venue in a old bus. There is a wonderful VHS tape to this (possibly on DVD now) that not only shows you how some of these songs are put together, but brings you through how the group came to play with one another. After watching the video, I was not only completely immersed in their music forever, but was intrigued by this wholesome band. They didn't need fireworks, fancy lights, wardrobe malfunctions, etc...the music and musicianship spoke for themselves, leaving people (all ages alike) in almost a trance-like state, awed by this oddly-fitting quartet.

This is a great first CD for the Flecktones and is followed by other wonderful CDs as well.

Northern Exposure, Season 3, Episode 5, "Jules et Joel". Throughout this episode a great song plays that I couldn't get out of my head. I did a search and found the name of the song, Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, on moosechick's site. I got the CD for that one song and now love every track.

Who else would have seen any common ground between bluegrass and jazz? That being said, among those few, who else would have seen a connection between bluegrass and not just jazz but electric, fusion-style jazz?

The sheer brilliance of this originality comes through on this debut CD - collectable just for its new-ness. The music is strong enough, but when you reflect on how completely innovative it was in its time, you sit back in awe.

And that said, this first album is not Fleck's best. The best, by far, is "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo." However, no collection is complete without the first chapter...

Bela Fleck isn't really pigioned holed into one particular catagory. Kind of a Blue Grass/Country Rock band. Fine musicians and good arrangements. A great change of pace.