Album: Left Of Cool
Song: Let Me Be The One
Holy. Fuck.
Alright, a few things you need to know. First of all, Bela Fleck has been one of my favorite musicians for almost 20 years. He gained a measure of notoriety in the late 80s / early 90s for his virtuosic albeit completely atypical playing style. While a bluegrass element is almost always present, he also incorporates many other genres into the musical mix, in particular jazz, folk, funk, and pop. In fact, Bela Fleck and his band have received Grammy nominations in more different categories than any other group in history. Second, Roy Wooten created his own instrument, the drumitar, which is a SynthAxe rigged to play percussion samples. So he's the drummer and he's out front with the rest of the band. Pretty cool. Third, Victor Wooten is a fucking beast. I mean...wow. Just...wow. The best bass player I know. Lastly, Jeff Coffin is a multi-instrumentalist jazz phenomenon in his own right. Put 'em all together and you've got something truly magnificent.
The tune itself is good, but perhaps not more than that. I chose it, however, because it shows off the band's incredible virtuosity and musicianship, two qualities that often do not go hand in hand. (See Yngwie, yet again.) Coffin's solo is good. Wooten's solo is out of this world. Fleck's solo takes banjo in completely new directions. Wicked stuff.
Oh, and the band performed at the Regina Folk Festival two years ago. And I missed it. Godfuckingdamn.
That's definitely an awesome banjo solo, on the one hand. But on the other, electric banjo seems to erase the distinction between banjo and guitar. That sounds like it could've been as easily played on an open-tuned guitar, whereas if he had done the same thing on an acoustic banjo it would've sounded... double awesome, getting points for... being a banjo, and being awesome. ... My words are failing me right now.
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