Little Worlds [LIMITED EDITION]

Moreover, I haven't even listened to the whole thing yet (most of disc one, part of disc two, most of disc three). So how could I make such an outrageous claim? Here's how:

Most interesting soundscape. Employing everything from uillean pipes to theremin, to didjeridoo, to bodhran, to electric synth banjo, to cajon, to kanjira, to jaw harp, to tuvan throat singing, to gutam, the lads achieve an incredibly rich musical canvas, making this, besides being the greatest cd ever, also the first comprehensive world music cd.

Authentic evocation of widest variety of world musics. This is a band that plays reggae, Scandinavian string music, funk, traditional Celtic music, flamenco, gospel, blues, Indian, Hawaiian, Chinese, American bluegrass (sometimes all at once!) with such ease that it all sounds second nature.

Huge generosity of spirit. If you read the liner notes, it's as if they know every prominent musician in the whole world--and would love nothing more than to have them to play on their cd: So-and-so was in town, so we thought we'd include him/her on a piece we were working on, etc. And they always seem to find the exact right musical setting for their guests, showing them off to their greatest advantage and strength.

Ability to sustain interest through almost three hours of music. You'd think you'd want to put something else on after about 70-80 minutes of this stuff. Doesn't it get boring? Won't the listener start getting antsy about halfway through the second disc? No and no. And this is from someone who generally think most jazz cds are too long.

Complete mastery of all technical elements. This was recorded mainly in Bela Fleck's house, with an unusual set up, each band member having his own isolation booth. An advantage, as Fleck points out in the liner notes, is that the setup could stay in place indefinitely. Thus, the band wasn't under the usual pressure to record in a very short period of time, which is how most records get made these days. Instead, they could get together whenever the spirit moved, and record at their leisure. Fleck has become a brilliant producer. He has a genius for shaping the soundscape, for integrating amazingly diverse sound palettes, from sax duo ("Captive Delusions") to two dozen wildly eclectic instruments ("Sleeper").

Inclusion of two theremin players (sometimes at once).

Inclusion of Derek Trucks.

The sheer chutzpah to even attempt something this audacious. And the chops, élan, and collective brilliance to pull it off.

One thing this convinces me of: The best nu jazz (which is the best music being made today, in my opinion) is being made by bands: Nicholas Payton's Sonic Trance, Garage a Trois, The Bad Plus, The Dave Holland Quintet, Medicine Wheel, Beat the Donkey, The Intercontinentals, Safa, Nascer, The Peter Epstein Quartet, and The Charlie Hunter Quintet, to name a few.

Landmark, watershed, ground breaking, utter genius--I don't care what name it goes by. This is it.

While Little Worlds does take the band in new directions, the Flecktone sound is still there. This includes, of course, Fleck's apparent obsession with odd meters remains obvious on this album; "New Math" manages to fit a 5-beat pattern and a 3-beat pattern into the same time signature, "The Leaning Tower" contains a Celtic jig in 5/4, and "Next" switches meters several times a minute, for example. The overall effect is that no two songs sound alike. The broad expertise of the band and the unique flavor the Flecktones bring to their music makes for an amazing musical experience.

Adding to that experience are a ridiculous amount of guests -- somewhere between 20 and 30. Many of them bring new colors to the music; Derek Trucks adds that trademark ABB slide guitar sound to "Pineapple Heart," for example, and Jerry Douglas adds his twangin' dobro and lap steel to "Poindexter." A good portion of the guests appear on the album's 12-minute centerpiece, "Sleeper," a haunting tune that degenerates into a massive jam at the end. (The mass of playing and talking gives the impression one is walking through a crowded market in Hong Kong.) A couple of the guests do go mostly unnoticed, though -- Bernie Williams provided little more than name recognition, and I still haven't even heard Congar Ol Ondar's contribution on Tuvan throat singing. Oh well.

My only complaint is that Little Worlds seems like a two-CD album stretched into three CDs. "Longitude," "The Fjords of Oslo," "Prequel," "Return of the Mudslingers," and "Flunky" are all short tracks that are not really songs. They add a sense of continuity, I suppose, but they could easily be left off without hurting the album as a whole. In any case, the album represents a fantastic bunch of musicians at their finest, and is a must-have.