Béla Fleck and the Flecktones

Béla Fleck:

Bela Fleck is often considered the premiere banjo player in the world. A New York City native (named after composer Bela Bartok), he picked up the banjo at age 15 after being awed by the bluegrass playing of Flatt & Scruggs. He began experimenting with playing bebop on the banjo in high school. In 1982, he joined the progressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival, where he made a name for himself in the country-bluegrass world. At the same time he was releasing a series of solo albums for Rounder Records.



In 1989 he formed the Flecktones. They made their self-titled debut recording in 1990 by playing a "blu-bop" mix of jazz and bluegrass and soon became a commercially successful, critically-acclaimed and award-winning band. (Fleck--the only musician to be nominated for Grammys in jazz, bluegrass, pop, country, spoken word, Christian, composition and world music categories-- also recorded solo releases including 1994’s Tales from the Acoustic Planet and last year’s The Bluegrass Sessions--Tales from the Acoustic Planet Volume 2.)



Victor Wooten:

Victor Wooten redefines the word musician. Regaled as the most influential bassist since Jaco Pastorius, Victor is known for his solo recordings and tours, and as a member of the Grammy-winning supergroup, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones. He is an innovator on the bass guitar, as well as a talented composer, arranger, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. But those gifts only begin to tell the tale of this Tennessee titan.



Futureman:

RoyEl is an inventor, scientist, musician, composer and two time Grammy Award winning performer with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones known as "Future Man". Audiences became curious when RoyEl appeared with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones ten years ago.



At the heart of that music is RoyEl's ground breaking percussion technique performed on his first invention he calls the Drumitar. The guitar shaped Drumitar allows him to replicate sounds of an entire contemporary drum kit with just a few fingers.



Jeff Coffin:

Jeff Coffin, well-traveled saxophonist, composer, and Grammy Award winning member of Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, rejects all labels and categories other than "music" and "musician."



Since 1997, Coffin has traveled the world with the Flecktones, performing with musicians of all walks and styles. Along the way, Coffin has absorbed an astounding range of influences. "Whether it be New Orleans Second Line, African music, Indian Ragas, folk songs, Alan Lomax field recordings, jazz, or funk," he says, "the spirit and breath of the music is what I take away from listening and playing. It's what decides for me whether I like it or not."