"The bond between a musician and his instrument is a mystical one. Without him the instrument is mute; without the instrument, the musician's soul is voiceless." By TINA DAUNT March 4, 2009 LA Times
Bela has released his latest project, a solo one hid did without the Flecktones.
This is a story of how Béla Fleck, virtuoso banjoist, went on a quest in search of his musical soul mate's African roots. Out of this project has come a Documentary Film and a CD.
Check out the official website for it all: http://www.throwdownyourheart.com/
Bela lives somewhere around the Nashville area, which is where I am currently located. He presented a rough draft of his documentary last year at the local Greenhills Theatre. Rose and I were lucky to be in attendance. He described some of his experiences being in Africa and showed the video that they had put together. The documentary that has since been released (is being released) is more edited and polished and the CD is available for sale or download. Next month at Nashville's famous Ryman Auditorium Bela will be performing with Toumani Diabate, Vusi Mahlesela, D'Gary, and Anania Ngoliga from Africa. These are some of the guys who play their own African version of a banjo-like instrument whom Bela linked up with in his travels there.
Look for the Documentary to play somewhere near you in the coming months. And buy the CD or Download it from your favorite online music venue. The music is excellent and adventurous and much more. There's no one does it like Bela can!!!
Here's a good article from the L.A. Times on the project: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-cause4-2009mar04,0,2143297.story
1 comment:
Bela Fleck has only been on my radar a very short time, admittedly. My friends have plugged him since they saw him at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, a favorite annual get-together of theirs, a few years ago. But this Africa project really got my attention. After reading the CD review in the New York Times, I downloaded "Throw Down Your Heart" on itunes, and really appreciate the breadth of musical origins that Bela has tapped into. He's the next Ry Cooder, a veritable 'global roots' musician. Nashville is blessed to have him so close by. The LA Times article points out this Africa project involved shoots/recordings in Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, Mali and another country. For me, personally, it's the Malian/Senegalese music that excites me the most. Oumou Sangare collaborates with him on some of the "Throw Down Your Heart" tracks, and I see that Toumani Diabate, famed kora player, is part of Bela's tour, which includes an April 8 date at Nashville's Rhyman Theater. As for the movie, well, my PBS affiliate in San Diego is presently clueless but I'll keep my fingers crossed that it will show up on PBS' "Independent Lens" one of these days. For now, at least, I've saved this documentary in my Netflix queue.
stu williams, pacific beach
Post a Comment