Sierra Center Stage; Bela Fleck

Come to Sierra centers recorded live in the Sierra Nevada a Brewing Company in Chico California featuring intimate performances and interviews with legendary masters of our city music. This time Grammy nominated Bela Fleck Flecktones critically acclaimed music center stage prepare to be dazzled by banjo and innovative instrumentation. Good evening everybody. Let me welcome you to CNN center stage. Glad you're here tonight. We have a real treat for you. Few musicians actually find these to meet they play. But tonight we have a bunch of them that do it. And one that even had to create one because it hadn't been created yet. He's an eight time Grammy winner. He's been nominated 20 times and

he's been nominated more fields than any other performer in Grammy history make welcome please. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. In. On.

This. One. It's.

This. D.

S. S. S. T. S. S.

S. S. S.

S. S T

S. Is. Going. To be. On this. You. For us

to. Move to number two. Are you going.

To. It. I.

Was in a band called New Grass Revival and I was invited to do a television show on my own. And originally I thought to put together a jazz combo to back me up and the banjo wouldn't be the weird instrument playing jazz. But the group that I found was the Flecktones and everybody in it was very interesting to me because each guy was somebody that I felt like I could learn from I'd go to school with each guy and learn things that I didn't know. And when we when we played together it was just such a powerful thing. I realized it was an opportunity to rather than put the banjo in a jazz ensemble actually create a new kind of music based on everybody's strengths have a kind of a supergroup of unusual unusual crafty musicians you know and that to me is what's strong about it. It's not just my concept it's our concept together. It's.

On

its own.

And.

So you asked me what what it's like to be on stage with guys like that. It's a hot seat and it's supposed to be a group is designed for everybody to be forced to be all the time and to and to and to be a and idealistic place where we're we're always pushing for our best and for new areas and things that we can do that will involve growth for us and our audience. For.

Your. On your own.

No. One. Can.

Go.

Things it's good news. And so when I hear a group that's what I listen for I listen. Where are the instruments sitting when you think about Miles Davis in the late 60s with Tony Williams and Ron Carter Herbie Hancock Wayne Shorter. Everything had its own place. Nothing got in the way of anything else.

And so that's one of the things that I think about thanks a lot also when we're deciding which instrument on which to. Measure. For.

Measure. As far as. You.

Are. Or. Do. You.

Or you or do. You plan. To.

Do this I. Come up with this line and went. On and you know I mean I was just filling this cause I had no idea it was in a weird time signature. You know I recorded all my looping and then I just started playing this one. I'm just playing that with myself and everyone kind of liked it. You know so did the drums and Bayless playing chords and just starts learning wanted to.

And it becomes a tool. And so then we took a part of a tune that Jeff had also which was a tone row which is where you take the 12 notes of the chromatic scale and you play them in a random almost like a random order but you're not allowed to repeat NO until you've played all 12 notes and he can say which is all 12 most of the chromatic scale in a word order. And so I've been working on Assa we put that together. And all of a sudden we had a tune of pieces from everyone. Else around.

US. As. You

can do. This. Pass.

On this. Is.

What's going. On. This.

Is an attempt to take the parades in New Orleans the bass drum Bowl parade you are in a parade. You've got a baseball player. Boom Boom bowls got in. Well you got to set that up. So the that says got to put it all together. Similis they got the high hat when it first time it was called the low boy calls it was low. Someone said well we can play it low without raise up but what I had time. So it's like all he's a bass is still evolving. Tom Tom plays well to tom toms on the drums. So you've got the entire parade. In.

One. Place. On.

This. One is. It's for us. It's.

Been yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes. Yes. What I like without Flecktones to work with the Flecktones. It's like a whole group where everyone's called out on a limb you know I'll

say what do they have to say. And by the way you know if people like it well we'll play. So people are supposed to do it one time. How many years later. Well you know when I got on the fall of 1988 fall in 1988. It's

like. It's. Like.

Saying. This.

It's.

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