Béla Fleck (born July 10, 1958 in New York City, New York) is an American banjo player. He is most well known for his work with the band Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, which he has described as "a mixture of acoustic and electronic music with a lot of roots in folk and bluegrass as well as funk and jazz." [1] July 10 is the 191st day (192nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 174 days remaining. ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This is an article about New York City; see also NYC, New York, and New York, New York. ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America¹, the States, or (archaically) Columbia — is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ... The banjo is a string instrument, derived from banjar, an African string instrument. ... Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz band, sometimes dubbed blue-bop. ...

Fleck was drawn to the banjo when he first heard Earl Scruggs play the theme song for the television show Beverly Hillbillies. He received his first banjo at age fifteen from his Grandfather (1973).[1],[2] Later, Fleck would enroll in New York City's, High School of Music and Art where he would study French Horn. Almost immediately after high school, Fleck traveled to Boston to play with Jack Tottle and Mark Schatz in Tasty Licks. It is with Tasty Licks that Fleck would play on his first major album. During this period, Fleck would release his first solo album (1979): Crossing the Tracks. It was Fleck's first foray into progressive-bluegrass composition.[5] Earl Scruggs (born January 6, 1924) created a banjo style that is one of the defining characteristics of bluegrass. ... The Beverly Hillbillies is a TV sitcom about a hillbilly who strikes oil while rabbit hunting, becomes a millionaire and moves with his family to Beverly Hills, California. ...

Fleck would play on the streets of Boston with bassist Mark Schatz until the two formed Spectrum: the Band in 1981. Fleck toured with Spectrum until 1981. That year, Fleck was also asked by Sam Bush and company to join New Grass Revival. Fleck performed with New Grass Revival for nine years. During this time, Fleck recorded another solo album, "Drive." It would be nominated for a Grammy in the then first-time category of Best Bluegrass Album (1988). Sam Bush Sam Bush (b. ...

After a 1988 phone call with bassist Victor Wooten, Fleck and Wooten formed Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, rounded out with harmonica player Howard Levy and Wooten's percussionist brother Roy "Future Man" Wooten, who plays synthesizer-based percussion. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin joined the group with the album Left of Cool. Download high resolution version (1632x1232, 501 KB) Bela Fleck & Victor Wooten 2003 Toronto Jazz Festival 30 June 2003 Dan F. Cook I, the creator of this image, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is one of the most celebrated electric bass players of all time. ... Howard Levy is a harmonica player. ... Roy Wooten (stage name Future Man; born October 13, 1957) is a drummer and member of the jazz quartet Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. ...

With the Flecktones, Fleck has been nominated for and won several Grammy awards. Fleck has shared Grammy wins with Asleep at the Wheel, Alison Brown, and Edgar Meyer. He has been nominated in more categories than any other musician including country, pop, jazz, bluegrass, classical, folk, and spoken word, as well as composition and arranging. Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music... Asleep at the Wheel is the name of an Austin, Texas based Western swing band, winner of nine Grammy Awards. ... Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist. ...

In 2000, Fleck collaborated with long-time friend and playing-partner Edgar Meyer to record an album of classical material played on the banjo along with an assortment of accompanists, including John Williams, Evelyn Glennie, Joshua Bell and Gary Hoffman. Perpetual Motion won two Grammy's in 2000 for Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Arrangement for Fleck and Meyer's arrangement of Doctor Ad Grassus Parnum by Debussy. Fleck and Meyer have also composed a Banjo Concerto that has been played numerous times with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist. ... There have been several noteworthy men named John Williams: John Williams (actor) (1903-1983), actor John Williams (archbishop) (1582-1650), archbishop John Williams (composer) (born 1932), U.S. film music composer John Williams (delegate) (1731-1799), North Carolina delegate to Continental Congress John Williams (equestrian), American equestrian John Williams (guitarist... Evelyn Glennie (born 1965) is a Scottish virtuoso percussionist. ... Joshua Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist. ... Claude Debussy Claude Achille Debussy (August 22, 1862 – March 25, 1918), composer of impressionistic classical music. ...

Fleck names Chick Corea, Charlie Parker, and the afore-mentioned Earl Scruggs as influences. He regards Scruggs as "certainly the best" banjo player of the three-finger style. [1] Armando Anthony Chick Corea (born June 12, American jazz pianist/keyboardist and composer who is arguably best known for his work during the 1970s in the genre of jazz fusion, although his contributions to straight-ahead jazz have been tremendous. ... This is about the jazz musician and composer. ... Earl Scruggs (born January 6, 1924) created a banjo style that is one of the defining characteristics of bluegrass. ...

Solo and with the Flecktones, Fleck has appeared at Telluride Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival and Newport Folk Festival, among others. Festival International de Jazz de Montréal is one of the biggest jazz festivals in the world. ... The Newport Folk Festival is an annual folk-oriented music festival founded in 1959 by George Wein, founder of the already-well-established Newport Jazz Festival, and his partner, Albert Grossman. ...

Grammy Awards

• 1995
  • Best Country Instrumental Performance, "Hightower" (single) by Asleep at the Wheel with Béla Fleck and Johnny Gimble
• 1996
  • Best Pop Instrumental Performance, "The Sinister Minister" (track) by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
• 1998
  • Best Instrumental Composition, "Almost 12" (track) by Béla Fleck, Future Man, and Victor Lemonte Wooten
• 2000
  • Best Country Instrumental Perfomance, 'Leaving Cottondale' (track) by Alison Brown and Béla Fleck
  • Best Contemporary Jazz Album, Outbound by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
• 2001
  • Best Instrumental Arrangement, 'Claude Debussy "Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum" from Children's Corner' Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer (Béla Fleck with Joshua Bell and Gary Hoffmann).
  • Best Classical Crossover Album, Perpetual Motion, with Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and others

Asleep at the Wheel is the name of an Austin, Texas based Western swing band, winner of nine Grammy Awards. ... Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz band, sometimes dubbed blue-bop. ... Joshua Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist. ...

Grammy Nominations

• 1986
  • Best Country Instrumental, "Seven by Seven", by New Grass Revival
• 1987
  • Best Country Instrumental, "Metric Lips", by New Grass Revival
• 1988
  • Best Bluegrass Album, "Drive", by Béla Fleck
• 1989
  • Best Country Instrumental, "Bigfoot", by New Grass Revival
• 1990
  • Best Jazz Album, "Béla Fleck & the Flecktones", by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
• 1991
  • Best Jazz Album, "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo", by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
  • Best Jazz Instrumental or Instrumental Composition, "Blu-bop", by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
• 1992
  • Best Jazz Instrumental or Instrumental Composition, "Magic Fingers", Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
• 1994
  • Best Spoken Word for Children, "The Creation", by Amy Grant with Béla Fleck
• 1995
  • Best Country Instrumental, "Cheeseballs in Cowtown", by Béla Fleck
• 1996
  • Best World Music Album, "Tabula Rasa", by Béla Fleck et al
• 1998
  • Best Pop Instrumental, "Big Country", by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
  • Best Country Instrumental, "The Ride", by Jerry Douglas with Béla Fleck
• 1999
  • Best Bluegrass Album, "Tales from the Acoustic Planet: Volume 2: the Bluegrass Sessions", by Béla Fleck
• 2000
  • Best Pop Instrumental, "Zona Mona", by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
• 2002
  • Best Country Instrumental Performance, "Bear Mountain Hop", from The Country Bears Soundtrack (with Bela Fleck)

[4] Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz band, sometimes dubbed blue-bop. ... Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz band, sometimes dubbed blue-bop. ... Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz band, sometimes dubbed blue-bop. ... Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz band, sometimes dubbed blue-bop. ... Amy Grant, Age To Age, 1982 Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960 in Augusta, Georgia) is an American singer-songwriter whose music has strong Christian themes. ... Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz band, sometimes dubbed blue-bop. ... Jerry Douglas is an actor, who has been on The Young and the Restless for 25 years. ... Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz band, sometimes dubbed blue-bop. ...

References

• [1] PBS Interview with Béla Fleck (http://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_oralh_belafleck.html)
• [2] Interview with Bela, 21Apr96 (http://www.frii.com/~gnat/bela/bio/gnat-interview-1.html)
• [3] Bela Fleck: Biography (http://www.frii.com/~gnat/bela/bio/)
• [4] The Flecktone Zoo: by Wendell Norman (http://mywebpages.comcast.net/wendell.norman/awards.htm)
• [5] Bela Fleck, Offical Biography (http://www.belafleck.com/bio.html)

External link

• Béla Fleck and the Flecktones World Headquarters Web Site (http://www.flecktones.com/)
• Béla Fleck - The Official Website (http://www.belafleck.com/)
• Béla Fleck and the Flecktones live recordings (http://www.archive.org/audio/etreelisting-browse.php?collection=etree&cat=Bela%20Fleck%20and%20the%20Flecktones)