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| 12-08-2003 | Previous edition: 12-05-2003 |
        
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Printer-friendly version Bela Fleck brings eclectic mix to music exploration
Staff Writer Seldom, if never, could one call a banjo solo "face-melting." But there may be no clearer way to describe what Bela Fleck does with his banjo in a live setting. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones displayed total mastery of each of their instruments Sunday night in Loeb Playhouse. The band awed the crowd with its signature blend of jazz, blue grass, funk, new age and folk. The Flecktones explored every nook and cranny of each number they played. The sold-out crowd was itself a mix of every walk of life. Young and old, hippies in rags and professors in tweed jackets all poured in together to see the extraordinary musicians. There was a toddler in patchwork pants roaming the aisles, and there was even a young man in a Notorious B.I.G. T-shirt. The show started with what sounded like a funk guitar lick being played from the inside of a black hole as the four band members slowly crept out from the blackness onto the dimly lit stage. The guys took turns playing brief solos over the length of the song, if only to give the audience a taste of what was in store for it. After the second number, Fleck took a moment to introduce the rest of the band. "Now, I'd like to introduce a man who traveled back in time from the year 2050 to be with us tonight," said Fleck. "Ladies and gentleman, playing his synth-axe drumitar, The Futureman!" Futureman, who looks like the love child of George Clinton and a pirate, is easily the group's liveliest member. His drumming technique combines traditional drums with his aforementioned invention, creating a rhythm section that pales others in comparison. Futureman then introduced Victor Wooten, the band's bassist and his brother. Wooten followed this trend by introducing Jeff Coffin, the group's "one man horn section." Chris Doktorcik, sophomore in the Schools of Engineering and an avid Flecktones fan, commented on the band's sound. "You're not going to find music this pure anywhere else," said Doktorcik. "Bands today lack excitement for what they're doing. This band is just pure energy." The band only spoke to the crowd during the first set to introduce one another. Other than that, they let the music do the talking. Wooten, who easily stole the first set with his 10-minute looped bass solo, comment on the bands mix of musical genres in an interview last week. "It's like people," said Wooten. "You've got black people, white people, Mexican people. But when you break it down you're still just talking about people. Music is the same way. You can be playing an Irish song over a jazz tunes, but when you break it down, you're still just talking about the same notes." Printer-friendly version |
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