Not only is he an innovator, virtuoso and a true blue musician, but he's succeeded in transforming the banjo into an instrument that's actually cool to play. His name is Bla Fleck.For those who aren't familiar with his work, talent and contributions, Fleck has delved into virtually every genre of music with such an acute sensitivity and awareness of their differences that he's never sounded like a twangy banjo artist attempting to cover classical or jazz music.
Over his long and fruitful career, Fleck's emotional presence on the banjo has always remained wonderfully distinct while his chops that adapt to each symphonic style seem arguably peerless.
Following the critical success of its acclaimed, Grammy-winning album "Outbound" released in 2000, Bla Fleck and the Flecktones have taken the notion of a large studio production to an all-new high with its latest three-disc project, "Little Worlds."
In the same spirit as "Outbound," "Little Worlds" is a collaborative effort that not only highlights the musical proficiency and creativity of the band, but also showcases the unique style and ability of numerous guests. The long list of talents include singer Bobby McFerrin, mandolinist Sam Bush, guitarist Derek Trucks, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, the bands Nickel Creek and The Chieftains, and guitarist/New York Yankee Bernie Williams.
Fleck and the Flecktones - Fleck (banjo), Victor Lemonte Wooten (bass), Future Man (synth-axe drumitar), and Jeff Coffin (tenor and alto saxophone) - began work on the album in October 2001. Following the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, the band cancelled its European tour and began recording songs in a studio room over Fleck's garage in Nashville, Tenn.
Initially, the project was what Fleck describes as "lean and mean" and would focus on the quartet since "Outbound" featured numerous guests. However, as time progressed, people began to show up in town and the studio sessions slowly expanded to encompass more musicians.
The three-disc project spans a wide array of diverse musical styles and influences ranging from bluegrass, classical and world music to rock, jazz and hip-hop. In a sense, the contents of each disc contain stylistic, sonic, harmonic and melodic components that make each song its own little planet with its respective properties and rules.
The project even contains an ode to the "Beverly Hillbillies" theme song with the rap version of "The Ballad of Jed Clampett." Furthermore, the original 1960s show theme possesses personal meaning for Fleck since it is what compelled him to pick up the banjo at the age of 15.
Fleck, who is a New York City native named after the classical composer Bla Bartok, was enamored of banjo masters Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs as a teen-ager. Fleck formed the Flecktones in 1989 and Coffin joined the band in 1997. Aside from recording 10 albums - both live and studio projects - the group now plays more than 200 gigs each year. The group toured with the Dave Matthews Band in 1996 and 1997, and Fleck guested on several tracks from the Dave Matthews Band work "Before These Crowded Streets" in 1998.
Aside from the records within the context of the Flecktones, Fleck has also cut four solo albums. His work "Perpetual Motion" is a record of classical music and features violinist Joshua Bell, composer and double-bassist Edgar Meyer, and composer John Williams.
Wy sat down with Fleck and talked about this latest work, "Little Worlds." Aside from the 27-song collection, the work also includes several hidden tracks featuring the voices of Yankee center outfielder Williams, Harry Shearer ("The Simpsons," "This is Spinal Tap") and Michael McKean ("This is Spinal Tap").
Wy: Well, since I've never interviewed you, I kind of wanted to know how it became the banjo and not, say, the guitar?
Fleck: Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that one out. I grew up in New York City and it's definitely not banjo country or I didn't think it was, but I heard it when I was a kid and I didn't know what it was, but I just thought it was gorgeous. It was on the "Ballad of Jed Clampett" from the "Beverly Hillbillies" show. It turned out that was Earl Scruggs, the great banjo innovator playing on the song. It really called out to me. I just loved it.
You have quite a few guests on this album and from what I understand this album initially was supposed to be focused more on the permanent members of the group. What happened along the way?
Right, because the last album we had done in the studio we had had a ton of guests on it, so it felt maybe this time we ought have it just be about the band. But, events just sort of transpired and people just started showing up in Nashville whom we couldn't resist asking to play. Once you have two or three people on the record then suddenly your original idea of it just being the band doesn't hold any water. The floodgates start to open, and this person showed up and that person showed up. Also because the album was recorded over a long period, there is even more of a chance for people to turn up in town.
One of those guests is Bobby McFerrin .
Yeah, what a god.
A lot of people think of him and just think of the hit song 'Don't Worry Be Happy' or the theme song to the 'Cosby Show,' but he's worked with the best like cellist Yo Yo Ma and pianist Chick Corea.
Yes, he's just amazing. It was such a trip to get to work with him. I almost don't believe it actually happened.
Were his contributions to the project improvised?
Yes, the only one thing he did that wasn't was where I asked him to do a line on the Jed Clampett song. It was this fast, triplet lick that I had recorded, and asked him to try and sing it with me. But everything else was off the cuff and it happened very quickly. He did everything on the record - he played on four songs - in less than an hour. Everything he did was first take-type stuff. Everything was just amazing and wonderful. I thought even more of him after that.
For me, this project's music really has a kind of unplanned vibe to it in the sense that a lot of the guest musicians and songs just seemed to show up at the right time. It seemed like the band members really opened themselves up to situations that kind of created a new song for the record as in the case when Future Man and a member of the crew, while eating Chinese food, heard a woman singing opera in the restaurant's kitchen.
Yeah, exactly. You can't plan that kind of stuff, but if you're open, I mean if she had come over and it had sucked we wouldn't have used it, but it was such a fun idea I was willing to work with her to see what we could get. She really did deliver and we got something we can talk about. But for me it has an emotional aspect, what she did. It took the song into such a different place that now it seems like it was meant to be. Of course it wasn't, it was serendipity, and because she was good and because it made sense, it works.
You also have the New York Yankee Bernie Williams on the record.
Yeah, that was another example of who knows. I mean I had never heard him play, but someone told me they were watching the playoffs and they said, "Bernie Williams' favorite band is Bla Fleck and the Flecktones." I said, "Oh, who's Bernie Williams?" They said, "He is this hot baseball player on the Yankees." I said, "Oh." They said, "He is a guitar player and his dream would be to play with the Flecktones one day." I thought, "Well, I'm going to New York next week. Call him up and see if he wants to play on something." At this point, we had realized we were making a big record and there were a lot of tunes we knew we were going to add something to them, but we just didn't know what quite yet. The tune he played on had room for something and could use another little element in the mix, so I got him to do some groovy stuff and he did a good job.
From what I understand, you guested on his album?
Yeah I did. The coolest thing with him is we had some conversations about the nature of being a musician and being an athlete. There are some really interesting parallels. One thing is about getting in the zone. When you're improvising as a musician, you kind of go away, your self goes away and you kind of get lost in it. It's like this sort of transcendental experience, if you're lucky. I think when you're playing, you try to get into that same zone and even as an athlete you're trying to get into that place where it's all happening by itself. You're just trying to stay out of the way and let your inner wisdom and ability come through. There was something about both professions that were interesting to talk about.
Now on to the hidden track which precedes the first track on the first disc at about -2:34.
Oh yeah, did you find that?
Yeah it's so neat. In fact, one of the men sounds like Bernie Williams and there is some other guy with an English accent. They are driving in traffic and they decide to turn on the radio.
That is Michael McKean. He's an actor who's been in "Spinal Tap," "A Mighty Wind" and "Best In Show." Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and he do a lot of movies together. He reprised his role as one of the guys in "Spinal Tap." I wanted to create this idea of David St. Hubins and Bernie Williams driving down the road, stuck in traffic, searching the radio for something to listen to. Then of course, all the bands on the radio are us.
For me, each disc and perhaps even each song represent a different planet. Did you pick certain songs to go on each disc to kind of create a vibe of being different worlds?
Well, sort of and I guess this is sort of an instinctive process that takes place when you're doing artsy stuff, but all along we had all these songs and gradually I started to develop an opinion that maybe this song or that song needs to happen near the end. We used to start our second set with the song "Sherpa." We started to feel like maybe that song needed to be early on the second disc. Then "Off the Top," the song with Nickel Creek, just seemed like a great way to end the first disc. Once you start to put these monolith songs in place then you can figure out what will go with them. I tried it a few different ways, and eventually it just felt perfect and I stopped. But it wasn't premeditated. When it seemed perfect then it seemed to work. I can't exactly say why it worked or why I thought it was good or what it was, but it just ended up the way it did because it felt like it should be that way for some reason. There's a funny instinct that sort of goes into that stuff. You won't know why you feel so strongly about a particular choice, but you do and you've got to listen to yourself. The band as a group, everybody has those kinds of feelings and we all try to respect whenever they come up. If someone has a strong feeling, there is usually a good reason for it.
For me, I think it's such a great reflection of music because it brings together so many different kinds of instrumentation used in different countries with so many different genres and styles of music. Was that your intent in recording a post-9/11 album?
Well, you know I've really avoided trying to connect anything about the record to that except just the fact of that because of 9/11 we didn't go on tour to Europe, and so it gave us more time to relax into the project. A lot of people seem to be tying their projects to Sept. 11 and it's almost like they are riding it. "Oh, I wrote these songs about it." It just seems a little bit crass to me. Of course we were in that state of mind and after that happened, everyone was so shocked and horrified so we just went and made some music.
You also include a hidden track at the end of the third disc.
Yeah and there is also a hidden track at the end of the first disc. They are little, weird, silly, fun things.
Michael McKean says, 'I know this producer, he's short like a Hobbit.' Is he referring to you?
No, I think he was just going, just free-associating. Well, I don't know, maybe. I'm not short like a Hobbit, so it's probably not me. The sports voice on the track is Harry Shearer. He did that for me as a favor and he did it fast too. Actually Michael called him while he was doing his stuff and by the time we got done with Michael, Harry's stuff had arrived on my e-mail. We wanted it since we had Bernie so we thought it would be cool if he was rolling around the dial and he hit a game or something and Harry could be that announcer.
No comments:
Post a Comment