Review Summary: The banjo has never sounded this spectacular...oh, and the rest of the Flecktones aren't too shabby either...
Bela Fleck and The Flecktones are quite a difficult band to pin down in a particular genre. Throughout the expanse of this performance, which lasts roughly an hour and twenty minutes, the band covers everything from multiple styles of jazz, bluegrass, and folk, jam rock, world music, and the list goes on. All of the styles covered in this performance are done in a near perfect way and as many times as I've listened to it, I can't find one single wrong note or off kilter part, which is rare when most of the performance consists of improvisation. Every member of The Flecktones, including the guest musicians, are completely on top of their game for the whole performance.
Bela Fleck and The Flecktones are: (guest musicians notated by a -)
Bela Fleck - banjo, electric banjo, guitar
Jeff Coffin - tenor, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute
Future Man - synthesizer/drumitar(?), acoustic percussion, vocals
Victor Wooten - bass
-Sandip Burman - tabla
-Paul Hanson - bassoon
-Paul McCandless - oboe, English horn, soprano and sopranino saxophones
-Andy Narell - steel drums, keyboard
-Kongar-ool Ondar - Tuvan throat singing
As you can see, there are a number of very diverse instruments on display here, and every instrument contributes to the performance in its own unique way. The main band are obviously the predominant group here, with the guest musicians providing background music (with the exception of McCandless who often engages in saxophone duels with Jeff Coffin). As stated before, every member of The Flecktones is on point at all times, and you would be hard pressed to find a hiccup in the performance. Also, every instrument gets more or less an equal amount of time in the spotlight.
As far as the individual performances go, nearly every solo has moments of shear brilliance. Whether its the interesting combination of electric banjo and wah found near the end of the first song, Victor Wooten's now trademark Amazing Grace solo, the three minute drum solo that shifts from tribal beats to jazz rhythms, or any of the sax solos, there really isn't a "bad" performance to be found. Aside from the actual songs, every key member of the group gets his own time for improvisation on their own. Fleck's and Coffin's are probably the best improv pieces (simply because I've heard the Amazing Grace solo + improv probably 30 times by now) and the aforementioned percussion solo is a close second. The most interesting piece comes from Fleck, who chose to do an improv over the Prelude to Violin Partita #3 by Bach, which is a very odd piece to do on a banjo, but it works out beautifully.
However, that's not to say that the other members don't contribute some equally impressive moments. Victor Wooten puts on what is possibly the best performance I've heard from him, probably because he is being forced to focus more on composition and melody than blinding speed. Perhaps his most interesting performance would be the short bass solo/scatting section he does near the end of the opener, but his basswork throughout the performance is marvelously consistent. Jeff Coffin also pulls of some pretty impressive feats, such as playing two saxophones at the same time as well as managing to make the alto sax jump an octave higher than it should. The percussion usually sticks to the background, but the drum solo near the beginning of the performance proves that Future Man is an extremely competent drummer.
All in all, this is a superb live performance, and it has a nearly endless amount of replay value. The only thing that might turn people off would be the Alash River Song performed by Kongar-ool Ondar. Kongar does not really play an instrument. Instead, he uses both sets of vocal chords at once to produce a sound that is almost akin to a flute, and while I find it interesting and a joy to listen to, some people might find it off putting.
This is an album that is listenable under almost any circumstances. The album works fine as background music for reading or relaxing, and it works just as well, if not better, when played at a high volume. If you like mostly instrumental music with creative improvisations and a seemingly endless array of musical styles, I suggest you pick this up pronto. Even if you aren't a fan of instrumental music I would still suggest you look into the album...it might be the one that changes your mind.
