Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
| Béla Fleck and the Flecktones | |
|---|---|
 Béla Fleck (right) and Victor Wooten at the 2003 Toronto Jazz Festival |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Jazz / bluegrass |
| founding | 1988 |
| Website | www.flecktones.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Béla Fleck | |
| Victor Wooten | |
| Roy Wooten | |
| Howard Levy | |
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is an American band whose predominantly instrumental music is assigned to the areas of bluegrass and jazz and combinations thereof.
Career
"Béla Fleck and the Flecktones" was founded in 1988 by Béla Fleck . In the first line-up, Howard Levy played keyboards and harmonica and the brothers Victor and Roy Wooten played bass and synthaxe. After three albums, Howard Levy left the band in 1992; The band then continued to play as a trio until Jeff Coffin joined the recording team for the album "Left of Cool" in 1998. Since then, “Béla Fleck and the Flecktones” has been recording further studio albums with the same line-up and organizing regular tours with often up to 200 concerts a year. For the studio album "Rocket Science" the band formed again in 2011 with the original line-up with Levy and without Coffin.
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones have been nominated for numerous Grammys and have won three of these awards to date. In addition to working on shared albums, the individual band members also pursue their own projects.
occupation
The namesake Béla Fleck plays acoustic and electronic banjos; he plays a very idiosyncratic, improvisational style with elements from bluegrass, folk and jazz. Victor Wooten plays bass and is known for his innovative style and excellent playing technique. His brother Roy Wooten, who calls himself Futureman, plays percussion on an instrument he developed himself, a SynthAxe , which he has expanded to control additional drum computers. Jeff Coffin plays the saxophone and, less often, the flute. Howard Levy plays the piano and harmonica, often at the same time.
Discography
- 1990: Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
- 1991: Flight of the Cosmic Hippo
- 1992: UFO tofu
- 1993: Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- 1996: Live Art
- 1998: Left of Cool
- 1999: Greatest Hits of the 20th century
- 2000: Outbound
- 2002: Live at the Quick
- 2003: Little Worlds
- 2003: Ten from Little Worlds
- 2006: The Hidden Land
- 2008: Jingle All The Way
- 2011: Rocket Science
Grammy Awards
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1997
- Best instrumental performance - Pop, "The Sinister Minister" by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
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2001
- Best contemporary jazz album, outbound by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
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2007
- Best contemporary jazz album, The Hidden Land by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
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2009
- Best instrumental album - Pop, Jingle All the Way by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
