UFO Tofu

Bela Fleck | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 11, 1992)
• Original Release Date: August 11, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002MF7
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,605 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #12 in Music > Rock > Jam Bands > Bluegrass Jam Bands

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

There's a sly wit to every Béla Fleck & the Flecktones album; the foursome of virtuosos takes its progressive fusion of jazz and bluegrass to such extremes (and with such ease), the musicians can't help but smile. "Nemo's Dream" exemplifies the spirit of the group as each member--Fleck on banjo, Howard Levy on piano, Victor Wooten on bass, and Future Man on drum-synth--let loose and have their fun. The title track erupts with a flurry of notes from Fleck and Levy that slowly evolves into intricately patterned quartet interplay. "Magic Fingers" never stops being funky. And "True North" starts out (oddly enough for this crew) with a plaintive, New Agey pennywhistle. "The Yee-haw Factor" returns the disc back to its wild bluegrass roots. One of the Flecktones' very best. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bela and company to the rescue!, June 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: UFO Tofu (Audio CD)

In a world of carefully marketed, nondescript, written-for-radio music, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones are the proverbial breath of fresh air. Some will give the disc a cursory listen, debate about what category to file it under, and completely miss the point. It's not about doing what's been done. It's not about following trends. Above all, it's not radio-friendly. Flecktones fans wll love this record for the same reason they love every Flecktone release. It's inventive, fun, emotional, and brilliantly played. For the uninitiated, the group consists of banjo master Bela Fleck, bassist Victor Wooten, his brother Roy (also known as Future Man) on what he calls a synthaxe drumitar (basically a handheld electronic percussion unit), and harmonica and keyboard innovator Howard Levy. Coming from bluegrass, jazz, pop, and folk backgrounds, they quite simply create some of the most intriguing music around. Unfortunately, fewer people hear of this band than should, in large part due to the fact that retailers can't easily categorize them and radio programmers don't know what to think of them. For the adventurous music lover looking for something real, however, this could be just the thing.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're not farmiliar with the flecktones, look out!, June 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: UFO Tofu (Audio CD)

This was the first Flecktones album that I heard, and I must say it was a memorable expirience. A friend threw this album into the CD, player and what followed was a religious and life altering experience. The first thing i said was "Is that a banjo?" The answer: "Yes... that my friend is Bela Fleck" My second comment: "who is that bass player?" the answer "Victor Wooten." This album will redefine all musical classifications for new listeners, and if your stereo is good enough, it will shake the very earth you stand on. Perhaps this album is my favorite flecktones album because it was my first love, but in reality the others are just as good. The flecktones are unsurpassed in all ways. If they come to your area check them out live, because the albums, while awsome, are just the tip of the flecktone iceburg

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Flecktones Do It Again, February 16, 2002

By 

peter krampert (eharmonica.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: UFO Tofu (Audio CD)

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones wowwed us in 1990 with their self-titled album. Incorporating banjo, harmonica, bass and a drum synthesiser, their music hints of Bela's Bluegrass roots and then proceeded to take us into uncharted territory. Calling this group Jazz-Fusion would only serve to over-simplify what they are doing.

There is a whimsey to their music. It never gets so heavy as to border on the unlistenable, as so many of their Jazz-Fusion compratiots are doing. Fleck has taken the banjo into areas that the banjo has never gone before, while still remaining distinctly a banjo. The Wooten Brothers on bass and drum synethiser lay down the basis of some of the most icredible music you will ever hear. Howard Levy on harmonica is rewriting the book ever time he picks up his instrument. In the community of harmonica players, Howard Levy is Prometheus, showing all of us the lack of boundaries that the harmonica actually has.

Levy takes the simple diatonic harmonica, an instrument not built with sharps and flats and plays every note imaginable. Notes that were never built into the instruments come flying fluidly out of the harmonica when Howard plays. There is little wonder that whole week-long teaching seminars have sprung up around Howard's playing. I've had the good fortune to attend one of these week-long teach-ins and I was left completely dazed.
Howard is thinking so far out of the box as to make the restrictions of the instrument seem mythical.

I strongly urge any fan of Jazz, banjo, harmonica or just music in general to give this album a listen. It's incredible.