BELA FLECK MUSIC BOOKS

Norman Warwick searches for

BELA FLECK MUSIC BOOKS

and finds them available at Amazon

In yesterday´s sidetracks & detours we featured the artist Béla Fleck, an incredible and eclectic musician who has played with all the greats in most genres of music. He is one of the most highly awarded musicians out there.

Banjo player Béla Fleck is a winner of fifteen Grammy awards who has also been nominated in more music categories than any other artist in Grammy history. He is one of the world´s most accomplished and innovative players of his instrument. The New York Times once said of Béla that ´he can claim the title of the most popular living banjo player, having done much to elevate the instrument beyond ´bluegrass terra firma´ into jazz, classical and beyond.

Béla Fleck was born in 1958 in New York City, he seemed destined to be a world class musician from the very start. He was christened with the names of three musicians, Béla (celebrating Bartok), Anton (for Webem) Leos (for Janacek). He became a successful  and constant player in the bluegrass, jazz, pop, rock and beat worlds and then made the classical connection with his 2001 album Perpetual Motion.

The album won two Grammy awards, including best classical. Playing on the album was Béla´s long time friend, bass virtuoso and composer, Edgar Meyer. The two men collaborated on the composition of a double concerto for banjo, bass and orchestra, entitled The Melody of Rhythm, which featured the world-renowned table player Zakir Hussain.

In August 2013 Béla Fleck made his debut on Deutsche / Grammophone / Mercury classics as a composer-artist with The Imposter, an album featuring his titular concerto for banjo and symphony orchestra, including his Night Flight Over Water for banjo and string quartet.

For The Imposter concerto Beck the performer was joined by conductor Giancarlo Guerrero and the National Symphony which had commissioned the work, and for Night Flight Over Water, commissioned by Butler University, Fleck employed a split stage technique with breezy Brooklyn Ride String Quartet.

SO, YOU CAN BE DAMNED SURE

WE´RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BOOKSHELF

Both works featured prominently in Fleck´s 2013 / 14 live season. August saw him undertake The Imposter with The Philadelphia Orchestra, before reprising it with The South Carolina Philharmonic as well as with the symphony orchestras of North Carolina, Indiana University, Huntsville, Canton and Peoria.

Beginning with nine dates in November Beck and Brooklyn launched an extensive tour of the USA and Canada, with Night Flight Over Water. Highlights also included collaborations with jazz keyboardist Chick Korea and singer-writer Alison Krauss as well as Béla´s wife and banjo-duo player Abigail Washburn.

Other more recent artistic partnerships include those with African artists Oumou Sangare and Toumani Diabate, as well as jazz-focussed work with The Marcos Roberts Trio and bluegrass performances with old friends.

The banjo player´s first documentary, Throw Down Your Heart, won audience awards at both The Vancouver Film Festival and The South By Southwest Festival (SXSW).

Artist Transcriptions Béla Fleck is the hottest banjo player on the scene today. His innovative blending of bluegrass, jazz and classical styles creates a unique style that’s all his own. The songbook features 25 lead sheets from compositions spanning his career, including: Blu-Bop * Flight of the Cosmic Hippo * Life Without Elvis * Magic Fingers * UFO-TOFU * and more.