Folk musician Abigail Washburn has certainly raised awareness of the banjo around the world in recent years. She has collaborated with banjo great Bela Fleck, along with cellist Ben Sollee and fiddler Casey Driessen, to bring American banjo music to China. The band, known as The Sparrow Quartet, became the first US band to officially [...]
Earlier this month, Bela Fleck's documentary film, Throw Down Your Heart, was premiered at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival in Austin, TX. SXSW is a 5 day festival that is a combination of trade show and festival for music, film and interactive media. The festival includes all the workshops, panels, mentor sessions, etc. [...]
Cross-genre and cross-cultural banjo icon Béla Fleck journeyed through several African nations last year in an effort to learn more about the music and people from whence the banjo originated. He visited Uganda, Tanzania, Gambia and Mali and met and performed with many African musicians along the way. An album is planned for the future [...]
Today at noon, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones will give a live radio performance on Blue Plate Special, broadcast on WDVX 89.9 FM in Knoxville, TN. The show will also be simulcast online via a web audio stream, but is not archived so be sure to catch the show live. Bela and the boys played [...]
Banjo player Bela Fleck has joined forces with jazz pianist Chick Corea to record a duet album set to be released May 22, 2007. Fleck has been innovating almost as long as he's been playing the banjo. He's delved into the jazz world before, hiring jazz musicians to be in his band, and recording with [...]
Irish bluegrass affeniato Niall Toner, mandolin and guitar player with the Niall Toner Band, interviewed Bela Fleck during a recent trip the banjo player took to Ireland. The interview is set to be broadcast on RTE Radio 1, on which Niall regularly hosts a show. The show containing this interview will be broadcast on May [...]
