Béla Fleck
Béla Fleck is an acclaimed American banjoist and composer known for revolutionizing the role of the banjo across various music genres, including bluegrass, jazz, classical, and progressive rock. Born with an affinity for music, he was inspired by iconic performances such as those of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Fleck began playing the banjo at fifteen and honed his craft through formal education and mentorship from notable musicians, eventually forming several influential bands, including New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.
Fleck's innovative approach to music has led to significant accolades, including sixteen Grammy Awards, making him one of the most nominated artists in Grammy history across multiple genres. His collaborations often incorporate a variety of instruments and styles, enhancing the versatility of the banjo. Noteworthy works include albums like "Perpetual Motion," which won awards for its classical crossover appeal, and "Throw Down Your Heart," celebrated for its exploration of world music. In addition to his extensive discography, Fleck's recent projects, like "My Bluegrass Heart" and "Rhapsody in Blue," continue to showcase his artistic evolution and commitment to pushing musical boundaries.
Béla Fleck
- Born: July 10, 1958
- Place of Birth: New York, New York
AMERICAN BANJOIST AND COMPOSER
Fleck expanded the banjo’s role in music, using a conventional instrument in an unconventional way, and his style borrows heavily from bluegrass, fusion, jazz, classical, and progressive rock influences.
MEMBER OF Tasty Licks; Spectrum; New Grass Revival; Strength in Numbers; the Flecktones; Aras
The Life
Named after Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, Béla Fleck began his interest in music by listening to the bluegrass duo Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs perform the theme to the television situation comedy The Beverly Hillbillies. Fleck recalls that hearing Flatt and Scruggs “was like sparks going off in my head.” Another early influence was the instrumental “Dueling Banjos” from the film Deliverance (1972)
Fleck started playing banjo at fifteen, and in 1973 his grandfather purchased him an instrument. Enthralled with music, Fleck enrolled in New York’s High School of Music and Art. Because banjo lessons were not offered, he studied French horn and switched to chorus, though banjo remained his instrument of choice. Fleck studied with outside instructors Erik Darling, Marc Horowitz, and Tony Trischka, and he began experimenting with bebop (a form of jazz).
After graduating from high school, Fleck went to Boston. His band, the Tasty Licks, recorded two albums with Rounder Records: a self-titled album in 1978 and Anchored to the Shore the following year. In 1981—around the time Fleck moved to Kentucky—he joined Sam Bush, a Nashville-based mandolin player, in the band New Grass Revival. With this group, he found success as a musical innovator and a popular artist.
The Music
Early Works. When Fleck joined Bush in New Grass Revival, the band also featured John Cowen on bass and vocals and Pat Flynn on guitar. Their musical influences (mainly rock, country, and bluegrass) made them a nationwide hit, and Fleck benefited from the exposure he gained on New Grass Revival tours. Fleck stayed with the group for nine years, appearing in the albums Deviation, On the Boulevard, New Grass Revival, Hold to a Dream, and Friday Night in America.
Drive. Even while playing in New Grass Revival, Fleck continued recording the solo albums that he had been making since the beginning of his career, which included Crossing the Tracks, his first solo album, and Inroads. Drive featured a few guest performers, such as New Grass Revival bandmate Bush. The album earned Fleck a Grammy Award nomination for Best Bluegrass Album.
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Released in 1990, Fleck’s first major project after the demise of New Grass Revival garnered attention from fans and from the music industry. The Flecktones formed when Fleck met harmonica player Howard Levy at the Winnipeg Folk Festival and bassist Victor Wooten. In 1988, public television offered Fleck his own show. Fleck and Wooten set out to find a drummer to complete the band—which they did in Wooten’s brother Roy, who was playing an instrument he had invented called the drumitar, a drum-guitar hybrid. Manipulating their music on Fleck’s Apple Macintosh, the Flecktones signed a contract with Warner Bros., and soon after they won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for “The Sinister Minister.” The group’s next album, Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, also received Grammy Award nominations.
Outbound. Later albums, such as the wide-ranging Outbound, evolved beyond the simple, live style of the earlier albums. More sophisticated in production, later studio albums demonstrated Fleck’s experimentation, not only with his virtuosic playing but also with classical instruments, such as those found in a symphony, and with whimsical instruments, such as steelpan drums and pennywhistles. The album also featured more than a dozen guest artists, including guitarist Adrian Belew and singers Jon Anderson and Shawn Colvin. The album picked up Best Contemporary Jazz Performance honors at the Grammy Awards that year. With Jeff Coffin eventually replacing Levy, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones has gained in popularity and has performed with such artists as the Dave Matthews Band, Sting, and the Grateful Dead.
Musical Legacy
Fleck revolutionized the sonic and playing possibilities of the banjo, much as Jimi Hendrix did with the guitar in the 1960s. His contributions as a composer and as a stylist revitalized the genres of fusion and bluegrass. Fleck’s skill in playing different styles has been rewarded with sixteen Grammy Awards and twenty nominations. He has been nominated for Grammy Awards in more categories than any other artist, including jazz, bluegrass, pop, country, spoken word, Christian, composition, and world music. His 2001 classical album, Perpetual Motion, in which he collaborates with bassist Edgar Meyer, won two Grammy Awards, including one for Best Classical Crossover. His 2010 album Throw Down Your Heart also won two Grammy Awards.
Fleck released numerous albums throughout the 2010s and 2020s, many of which won significant accolades. His collaborative album Béla Fleck And Abigail Washburn (2014) won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album in 2016. In 2021, Fleck's documentary and album Throw Down your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions (2020) was nominated for a Grammy for Best Historical Album. His release My Bluegrass Heart (2021) won a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album (2022). In 2024, Fleck won Grammys for both Best Contemporary Instrumental Album and Best Global Music Performance for his collaborations with Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain. The artist released his next studio album, Rhapsody in Blue, in February 2024.
Principal Recordings
ALBUMS (solo): Crossing the Tracks, 1979; Fiddle Tunes for Banjo, 1981 (with Tony Trischka and Bill Keith); Natural Bridge, 1982; Double Time, 1984 (duets with others); Inroads, 1986; Drive, 1988; Solo Banjo Works, 1991 (with Trischka); Tales from the Acoustic Planet, 1995; Tabula Rasa, 1996; Uncommon Ritual, 1997 (with Mike Marshall and Edgar Meyer); The Bluegrass Sessions: Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 2, 1999; Perpetual Motion, 2001; Little Worlds, 2003; Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3, 2009; Throw Down Your Heart, 2010; The Impostor, 2013; My Bluegrass Heart, 2021; Rhapsody in Blue, 2024.
ALBUMS (with Aras): Curandero, 1996.
ALBUMS (with the Dreadful Snakes): The Dreadful Snakes, 1983.
ALBUMS (with the Flecktones): Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, 1990; Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, 1991; UFO Tofu, 1992; Three Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1993; Left of Cool, 1998; Outbound, 2000; The Hidden Land, 2006; Jingle All the Way, 2008; Rocket Science, 2011.
ALBUMS (with New Grass Revival): Deviation, 1984; On the Boulevard, 1984; New Grass Revival, 1986; Hold to a Dream, 1987; Friday Night in America, 1989.
ALBUMS (with Spectrum): Opening Roll, 1981; It’s Too Hot for Words, 1982.
ALBUMS (with Strength in Numbers): The Telluride Sessions, 1989.
ALBUMS (with Tasty Licks): Tasty Licks, 1978; Anchored to the Shore, 1979.
ALBUMS (with the Sparrow Quartet): The Sparrow Quartet EP, 2005; Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet, 2008.
ALBUMS (with Abigail Washburn): Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, 2014; Banjo Banjo, 2015; Echo in the Valley, 2017.
Bibliography
Fleck, Béla. Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Milwaukee, Wis.: Hal Leonard, 1998.
Fleck, Béla, and Abigail Washburn. "Truth, Beauty, Banjo." Interview by Krista Tippett. On Being, 24 Nov. 2016, onbeing.org/programs/bela-fleck-abigail-washburn-truth-beauty-banjo/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.
Graham, Jefferson. “Summer Tours Help Bands Pay Bills.” USA Today, August 5, 2004.
"Here Are the 2024 Grammy Award Winners." NPR, 5 Feb. 2024, www.npr.org/2024/02/04/1228452956/here-are-the-2024-grammy-award-winners. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.