Bela Fleck addition?
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Suggest New Bands and Artists
Forum Description: Suggest, create polls, and classify new bands you would like included on Prog Archives
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=51281
Printed Date: March 03 2025 at 22:23
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Topic: Bela Fleck addition?
Posted By: JLocke
Subject: Bela Fleck addition?
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 00:57
| I have been getting big into his music lately, and I think he would be right at home here in Jazz-Rock, but what do you guys think? |
Replies:
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 07:01
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Not that it necessarily means anything, but Jon Anderson guest vocals on one track of Outbound. Are they too bluegrassy to be prog? I don't think so. Don't let the banjo fool you. I'd put them here, but I've always been a big tenter with regard to prog. Flecks also done an album of classical pieces for the banjo. Very interesting.
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 12:33
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Well, he doesn't really play the Banjo in bluegrass style, anyhow. He's much Jazzier than one might expect at first.
I'm glad you agree with me, Slartibartfast. Let's just hope that other folks will agree with us.
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 14:13
That's true and when you think of jazz you don't really think of the banjo as jazz instrument or a classical one for that matter. You don't happen to know of any other jazz banjoists? banjoers? banjovians? (that's my joke name for Bela, Banjovi) What the hell is plural for banjo player anyway? I just ran a search and there are a whole flock of Fleck threads. Check them out. Link expired, the curious should do a search for "Fleck" set to any date. It seems all the Fleck threads have been closed even though some are fairly recent. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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p0mt3 wrote:Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 16:19
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yes. they are prog. there is no debate on this one. I dont know why they havent been here before. The banjo thing is progressive, and Bela Fleck does have a bluegrass style, he just plays jazz. And he can make his banjo not even sound like a banjo but an electric guitar, which he also plays on certain songs. then you have Victor Wooten, besides being one of the sickest bassists, plays classical (they all do) so basically the band mixes jazz, rock, jazz-rock, bluegrass, classical, and they have this jam band feel to them sometimes as well. And they definitely are prog, most people, even non-fans, cant really deny that if they heard them. so I dont see a big problem with them being here. i just threw on Live-Art, I havent listened to this band in a good long time, and I forgot how great they are! ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm 
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Posted By: jimidom
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 16:25
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Well said, darkshade. I consider Victor Wooten to be one of the top 5 bassists in the world. Yay for me too. ------------- "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - HST |
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 16:27
Absolutely 100% yes. |
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 16:28
 Absolutely love that album, the tracks where Herbie guests and he and Bela "duel", absolutely sick! |
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 16:39
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Doesn't Victor play the "drums" too. I haven't listened to them in quite some time, but I remember seeing an interview (don't remember where) where one of the instruments had electric drumpads included on it, and not only did the musician play his instrument he also tapped along the drums. I think that it was Victor Wooten that had this contraption but I could be wrong. Maybe Bela had it on his banjo. Anyone want to fill me in on my hazy memories? It is a bitch getting old. ------------- 
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Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 16:42
Victor's brother Roy Wooten plays the "drumitar". |
Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 16:44
no it's probably Victor Wooten's brother, i forgot his first name. btw, of course they would go in the jazz-rock/fusion section ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm
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Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 16:44
damn you beat me  ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm
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Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 16:49
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Thank you. I suppose that this "drumitar" is probably considered kind of cheesy like the "keytar" of 80's hair metal fame, but when I saw that interview I really thought it was the coolest invention, although I suppose that it probably put a drummer out of work. -------------
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Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 16:55
yea but listening to it being played is awesome, and you would think it was a real drummer, and sometimes Roy does stuff even a normal drummer couldnt do easily. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 18:47
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AKA Futureman
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 20:34
| Incidentally, the tenor banjo was originally used in jazz bands in the 1920s and 1930s. |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: August 26 2008 at 20:52
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Wow, so many people agreeing! I honestly don't see how Fleck COULDN'T be added now, unless the owner personally doesn't want him here, which I think is a shame if that is the case. If the other threads about this have been closed already, I'm fearing that may very well be the case. :(
Let's hope I'm wrong, and that Bela and co. wil be included here asap.
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: August 27 2008 at 07:52
Yeah, I actually missed Professor Heath's response to a similar comment I made in another Fleck thread a few months ago. I did not know that, though I am somewhat familiar with Grappelli and Reinhardt in the early jazz department. So when I think of early jazz other than the more famous Louis Armstrong, I think of those guys and violin with acoustic guitar.  ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: August 28 2008 at 23:26
| Oh no, I'm not letting this topic go unoticed by the righyt people. I'm *bump*ing this! |
Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: August 29 2008 at 03:03
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Sure, what the hell.
Don't know about the rock quotient, but hey I like them and they make damn good progressive music, so if they were here I wouldn't complain. ------------- Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: September 02 2008 at 00:35
| Well, that's nine 'yay's and 1 'nay' according to the poll results so far. Anyone willing to consider the addition yet ? |
Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: September 02 2008 at 21:59
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yea i think it's time they're in
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm
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Posted By: Peter
Date Posted: September 02 2008 at 22:32
A resounding "yay" (yea) from me!  ------------- "And, has thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy. |
Posted By: Tapfret
Date Posted: September 02 2008 at 23:01
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2 thumbs way up from me.
And BTW, for those who are curious about Roy Wooten's Drumitar, it is actually (or used to be) a Synthaxe like these:
 But has been rebuilt, reformed, destroyed, erased, improved over the last roughly 20 years and now looks like this:
http://bp0.blogger.com/_epHG87EcsuY/RbrbpZVD_rI/AAAAAAAAAEk/v6wowOyXBz4/s1600-h/Futureman+with+Synthaxe+Drumitar.jpg">  ------------- https://www.last.fm/user/Tapfret" rel="nofollow">  https://bandcamp.com/tapfret" rel="nofollow - Bandcamp |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 03 2008 at 13:01
Did not know that. Do you have a pic handy of his first modified version? ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: Tapfret
Date Posted: September 03 2008 at 18:35
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I looked around but could not find any evolution photos. Let's just say, when I saw them live in 1994 it looked much cleaner. The band photo on the back of their 1990 debut album shows him with it relatively unmolested.(i'd scan it if my scanner were operational). Apparently he bought the thing from Lee Ritenour. ------------- https://www.last.fm/user/Tapfret" rel="nofollow"> https://bandcamp.com/tapfret" rel="nofollow - Bandcamp |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: September 17 2008 at 03:38
Oooh, ELEVEN Yays so far and only two Nays. Looks like the majority of the participating considers Bela a worthy addition here after all. Very interesting. lol, for some reason, I thought the results were going to be quite the opposite. 
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 17 2008 at 13:00
Still, only 13 votes so far. I suspect the reason for the results not being opposite is a lot of people here simply haven't heard anything. I would like to think that after checking out a few choice cuts they'd be with us, though. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: September 18 2008 at 05:06
| Yeah. Well, as long as this thread is alive, I'm going to hold out hope for Fleck's addition here. I honestly think he is one of the most innovative musicians out there these days. The more I listen to him, the more this opinion seems to sink in with me. |
Posted By: mrgd
Date Posted: September 19 2008 at 02:42
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In my view, you cannot get much more progressive than BELA FLECK AND THE FLECKTONES [ please let's not forget them by name ].
I had the pleasure of seeing them live in Sydney a few years ago and for anyone who hasn't seen them but who's interested, please get yourselves the " Live at the Quick " DVD. These people are musical freaks, and I mean that in the nicest possible way . The DVD is an unrivalled listening and viewing experience in 5.1 . From the Rahsan Roland Kirk style sax playing of Jeff Coffin, to the unconventional groove of 'Futureman'. Then , well Victor Wooten - his 'Amazing Grace' is just something else - incomparable for any student of electric bass playing and then, at the least, Bela oozes Pat Metheny type sounds and styles from a banjo adaptation . Sure he can play in the 'bluegrass' vein, but when he does it is truly bent, imo. Sure, there's a lot of improvisation in their music , but man, is it clever or what? Sorry guys n gals, how any band that features electric wah-wah bassoon solos could be described as anything else but progressive, on top of all the rest, in all their fusion elements, beats me ...........and that's even before we talk about the Tibetan throat singer who makes sounds in 3 octaves at once. Get that DVD and you'll be left with no doubts as to whether they belong or not.  ------------- Looking still the same after all these years... mrgd |
Posted By: Desoc
Date Posted: October 02 2008 at 15:39
| So... any progress here? It's not a precondition for new bands that many people take an interest in their addition thread, is it? So... let's do it :-) |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 16:39
I voted yes early on, and support the addition. They've been suggested so many times (just for reference purposes):
I'm looking through for the arguments against. As Dick Heath said in 2007, he didn't have any problem with them in Jazz-Rock Fusion (but was interested in the arguments against it). I couldn't find it listed at ratingfreak.com (where we keep our prog charts, so I don't know what's happening with this). p0mt3 -- did you bring it up in the JRFT thread? I know they're very busy with various matters (and have a great deal to evaluate). |
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Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 18:16
I have not. This poll was more or less for my own curiosity, and I figured that if the poll results ended up remaining in Fleck's favor after the majority's vote, it would be enough to validate a direct suggestion to the JR team.
However, the poll numbers are climbing much slower than I thought they would. I'm not sure if only fourteen total votes are enough to make a good case. If you think tyhe JR guys would honestly consider this seriousely, though, maybe we should directly approach them . . .
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Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: October 03 2008 at 18:41
Good thinking. It certainly helps in making a case for the addition -- especially for one that's been on the table for so long. Of course they'd need sufficient music samples available for evaluation. The suggested music first and foremost has to speak for itself to the team. If someone provided them with appropriate music samples, and offered to write the bio, they might give this a higher priority. The poll is very clearly in favour of the addition, and sufficient. Arguments help, but availability to music samples (and maybe some links to info that show its relation) is most important. |
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: October 04 2008 at 23:36
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I see.
Well, if this poll continues to climb in votes (and, aside from being locked, it eventually will), I may feel a bit more confident in approaching the J-R guys directly about it. I have a couple of Fleck's albums on CD, so providing samples won't be a problem for me, and I could even write the bio myself if no one else feels up for it. I just feel like it's a bit odd that these guys haven't been included here yet, so I'm willing to do whatever I can to make their inclusion easier.
I just think it's time for them to join their obvious peers here.
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Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: October 05 2008 at 01:39
Sounds good.  Gratuitous Chapman quote: "I can't talk to a man who bears an undeserved animosity towards ferrets.” |