Bruford / Borstlap: Every Step A Dance, Every Word A Song

I first saw the duo of British drummer Bill Bruford and Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz in 1982, at New York City's now defunct Bottom Line, and later in 1983, at D.C.'s now defunct Bayou. Bruford and Moraz had released two albums, the acoustic "Music for Piano and Drums", and the electronic "Flags". Consequently, these recordings and others have been reissued on Bruford's new record labels: Summerfold and Winterfold. Now, on this new CD, "Every Step A Dance, Every Word A Song", and a DVD titled "In Concert In Holland", Bruford this time teams up with Dutch keyboard master Michiel Borstlap, in duets culled from their 2003-2004 European tour. Although the duo's efforts are rooted in jazz, there are hints of the progressive-rock/New Age flavor of "Flags", where Borstlap employs synthesizer for choruses and textures, and Bruford's well known polyrhythmic beats and syncopations that propel this beautiful musical journey.

The "Left of the Dial" reviewer Glenn Astarita, notes that "Borstlap primarily uses a grand piano as his instrument of choice via a potpourri of swing vamps, and sublime moments, while Bruford's shading exercises, add color and additional warmth. Highlights include segments where the duo expands themes and unexpectedly switch gears as they often instill a polytonal outlook during jazz standards such as Monk's "Bemsha Swing," for example.

The piece titled "Swansong," is a compelling opus that defines the artists' overriding sense of musical intimacy coupled with power and tenacity. Here, Borstlap executes slashing crescendos amid Art Tatum-like chord voicings, as the unit melds quaint balladry with bluesy passages. The fun factor continues with Bruford's drumming onslaught, which serves as a prelude of sorts, to Borstlap's shrewd use of a synth chorale voicing to finalize the piece. Simply stated, it's about synergy and singular techniques rooted with elements of joy and precision.

Bruford met Dutch pianist Michiel Borstlap in 2002, and they began playing duo shows that were less about the confines of structure and more about what Bruford terms "performance-based" music, music of the moment where spontaneity and interaction were the predominant factors.

Canadian Music reviewer John Kelman wrote that "while Bruford and Borstlap are still more concerned with form than, say, Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi-whose recent album with Paul Motian, Doorways , is another beast entirely-the reciprocation between the two jumps out from the first notes of the more structured "The 16 Kingdoms of the 5 Barbarians." Bruford's liner notes allude to the fact that the performance space impacts the nature of the musical dialogue-smaller rooms having "the intimacy of a dinner table conversation between old friends," while larger venues "naturally become a bit more muscular and assertive."

Still, on more introspective pieces including the title track, the anthem-like "Inhaling Shade," and an abstract, yet faithful reading of Monk's "Round Midnight," Bruford may gently assert the forward motion, but he's also become a masterful colourist. And while Borstlap's supplementing of his piano with electronic keyboards sometimes gives the duo a broader complexion, the subtleties of their exchange are never overshadowed by sheer demonstrativeness.

Every Step a Dance, Every Word a Song may not be as great a step forward for Borstlap, already a well-established European jazz figure, but it represents one more advance in the pursuit of a more instinctive and natural approach for Bruford, an artist who has, for all intents and purposes, left his rock roots completely behind him.

Twenty-Five Years Ago Today...

...And I can still vividly recall that night, on my way home, up Broadway, past the commotion on 72nd Street, and arriving to hear the news from friends visiting from DC, "Did you hear the news?! John Lennon was shot dead tonight!" We gathered around the radio, listening to WNEW, watching the scene on TV outside the Dakota in disbelief. John Lennon had been shot four times in the back, by the deranged Mark Chapman, who had asked the former Beatle for his autograph only hours before he laid in wait and killed him.

Chapman had actually met Lennon earlier as he left for a recording studio and got his copy of Lennon's Double Fantasy autographed, the image of Lennon signing one of his last autographs was actually caught by a photographer who witnessed it. Chapman remained in the vicinity of The Dakota for most of the day as a fireworks demonstration in nearby Central Park distracted Lennon's doorman and passers-by.

Later that evening, Lennon and Ono returned to their apartment fresh from recording Ono's single "Walking on Thin Ice" for their next album. At 10.50pm, as their limousine pulled up to the entrance of the Dakota, Ono got out of the car first, followed by Lennon. Beyond the main entrance was a door which would be opened and a small set of stairs leading into the apartment complex. As Ono went in, Lennon got out of the car and glanced at Chapman, proceeding on through the entrance to the Dakota.

As Lennon walked past him, Chapman called out "Mr. Lennon." As Lennon turned, Chapman crouched into what witnesses called a "combat" stance and fired five hollowpoint bullets. One bullet missed, but four bullets entered John's back and shoulder. One of the four bullets fatally pierced his aorta. Still, Lennon managed to stagger up six steps into the concierge booth where he collapsed, gasping "I'm shot, I'm shot."

Chapman stood there, holding his .38 Charter Arms revolver, which was pulled out of his hands and kicked away by one Jose Perdomo who then asked "What have you done, what have you done?", to which Chapman replied "I just shot John Lennon." Chapman then calmly took his coat off, placed it at his feet, took out a copy of J.D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, and started reading. Police arrived within minutes, to find Chapman still waiting quietly outside, still reading the book.

The two officers transported Lennon to Roosevelt Hospital in the back of their squad car as they thought John was too badly hurt to take the risk of waiting for an ambulance. One of the officers asked Lennon if he knew who he was. Lennon's reply is reported to have been "Yeah" or simply a nod of the head before he passed out. Despite extensive resuscitative efforts in the Emergency Department, Lennon had lost over 80% of his blood volume and died of shock at the age of 40. A stunned nation was informed of his death by Dr. Stephen Lynn who shortly before had broken the devastating news privately to anxiously waiting Yoko.

In the days that followed, the candlelight vigils in Central Park's renamed space, "Strawberry Fields," and the Dakota, the eerily beautiful sounds of Lennon's latest album, playing round the clock on the radio were a sad reminder of a tragedy no one could believe. Yoko Ono complained that the crowd in front of the Dakota kept her awake, and they moved to en masse to Central Park.

The next night, December 9th, Bruce Springsteen played at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, and said "It's a hard night to come out and play but there's nothing else you can do," and he ended his show with a spirited performance of "Twist and Shout". A special commemorative issue of Rolling Stone magazine came out shortly after the murder, and featured on its cover, a photo taken the morning of the shooting by Annie Leibovitz showing a nude Lennon in an embryonic pose kissing a fully clothed Ono. (In 2005, this cover was voted as the number one magazine cover of all time by The American Society of Magazine Editors). Later the next year, Elton John's Jump Up! featured a hit single, "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)," a tribute to Lennon.

Chapman ultimately pleaded guilty to gunning down Lennon, and is currently serving life in Attica prison near New York. As recently as October 2004, he failed for the third time to secure his release. He said he had, "heard voices in his head", telling him to kill Lennon. Twenty years after his death millions of fans paid tribute to Mr Lennon in his home town of Liverpool and in New York. His widow launched a campaign against gun violence in the United States to mark the anniversary.

Lennon had joked years earlier that, "I'll probably be popped off by some loony," and sadly he was correct. The murder of celebrities by fans was not new, but extremely rare, and ironically, Lennon seemed aware of the risk. I once attended an Elton John concert in 1976, at the newly built Capital Centre, sitting with my chums in about the tenth row. We had camped out for tickets weeks earlier, as we normally did in those days, guaranteeing us great seating.

Half-way during the show, Elton told the audience, "I have some great friends in the audience tonight", and with that, a brilliant spotlight shown down on my friends and I. Were we being honored for our dedication and love of Elton, we naively wondered? Suddenly I happened to look behind me and, sitting there was John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Cher, an unlikely trio to say the least! "Oh God," I heard Lennon mutter as he sheepishly waved to the stage. Before Elton could finish the next song, Lennon, Yoko and Cher were gone, clearly uncomfortable with the gazes and the attention they were getting.

There would be more tributes for Lennon, A play and concerts, but December 8th, like December 7th, will always be a day that for many of us, will "live in infamy". For me and others, it really is the day the music died.

Jazz Vocalist Shirley Horn 1934-2005

One of my all time favorites, friend and mentor, the legendary vocalist Shirley Horn, passed away last week at the age of 71. Despite a long bout with diabetes, and the loss of a leg, Horn continued to perform up until the end. Her last album, "May the Music Never End", provided us once more with a masterpiece that is just as timeless and inimitable as she was. The self-produced CD confirmed what many musicians have been saying about the Grammy award winner for years: she was indeed one of the finest vocalists in jazz music history.

With an exclusive fan base that includes Barbara Streisand, Barry Manilow and opera soprano Renee Fleming, the Miles Davis protege relied only on the magic of her voice in this historical recording. For the first time in her flawless career, because of health concerns, Horn performed without her piano. Instead she permitted her long-time protege George Masterhazy and the veteran Ahmad Jamal to carry out the album's seamless piano performances. Jamal's appearances on "May the Music Never End" are remarkably significant as it is the pianist's first time as a sidemen on any recording.

One of the most touching performances on the album was Horn's soulful interpretation of The Beatles classic, "Yesterday". The introductory re-record "Forget Me" is dedicated to Horn's late friend singer/poet Valerie Parks Brown. Her sweet rendition of the nostalgic Duke Ellington piece, "Take Love Easy" features Verve labelmate Roy Hargrove on fluegelhorn, as does the emotional "III Wind". With a select mix of originals and standards, "May the Music Never End" is an unblemished portrait of why Horn's legend will continue to be a part of jazz music's present and future.

Horn was accompanied on "May the Music Never End" by her trio pianist George Mesterhazy, and two of my oldest friends, bassist Ed Howard and drummer Steve Williams. "Most of these are songs I grew up with," says Horn, who still lived in her native Washington, D.C. "My family loved music and there was always music around from the greatest singers and bands. Usually, I just learned the songs my mother used to sing around the home. I would ask her, 'What's the name of this one, what's the name of that one?' because I'd have the melody in my mind. I remember hearing Peggy Lee singing "Why Don't You Do Right." In fact, probably 75 percent of the songs I do are ones I heard at home."

But Horn didn't set out to be a singer. "It was an accident," she explains. "What I remember first in my life is playing the piano. That's when I was four years old. I'd go to my grandmother's home. She had a parlor with a great big piano. The parlor was for company, and it was closed off with French doors. It was always cold, but I didn't want to do anything but just go in there and sit on the piano stool. I wasn't interested in playing with the kids outside. After several years of this my grandmother told my mother to get me lessons."

Horn discovered the allure of her singing when, at 17, she was playing in a local restaurant/night club. "One night close to Christmas, this older gentleman who would regularly come in for dinner came with a teddy bear as tall as I. Somehow I knew that was for me," she recalls. Indeed, the patron sent her a note saying "If you sing 'Melancholy Baby' the teddy bear is yours." "I was very shy and it was hard for me to sing," Horn says, "but I wanted that teddy bear."

Audiences continued to ask for songs and Horn eased into her role as a vocalist. "It was no big thing, but then I started to realize how much I loved to sing." One of her most requested tunes was "You're My Thrill." The song stayed in Horn's repertoire for more than twenty years whenever she played the One Step Down, which she remembers as "the best little jazz joint" in D.C. Now defunct, the One Step Down was also one of D.C.'s "places to be", for Shirley's annual New Year's Eve Show. The owner would often say to her, 'you've got to record that song'," she remembers, "and I said 'I'm going do it once I've made up my mind.'"

Although content to stay at home, Horn was coaxed away to New York City in 1960 by Miles Davis. Notoriously disdainful of singers, Davis had been seduced by Horn's debut recording, "Embers and Ashes". He invited her to open for him at the Village Vanguard, catapulting her into a limelight she had never sought. After Horn retreated from view for much of the 1970s and 1980s to raise her daughter, she found her fame blossoming anew after her 1987 signing to Verve. In 1990, not long before his death in 1991, Davis added his graceful trumpet phrases to the title track of Horn's "You Won't Forget Me". In 1998, Horn paid tribute to her mentor with the brilliant "I Remember Miles", for which she won the Grammy award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. All in all, Horn has garnered 7 consecutive Grammy nominations, and her albums "Here's to Life, Light Out of Darkness" (A Tribute to Ray Charles), and "I Love You, Paris" all soared to number one on the Billboard jazz charts.

What Davis, Quincy Jones, and others heard as early as 1960 has been affirmed over the years by numerous awards and recognitions. In addition to her Grammy award and nominations, Horn has won 5 "Wammie" awards, (the Washington area's music industry award). In 1987, she was presented the Mayor's Arts Award for "Excellence in an Artistic Discipline" in Washington, DC. In 1990 Horn's "Close Enough for Love" album won one of France's premiere music awards, the Academie Du Jazz's Prix Billie Holiday. In 1993, she added the prestigious Edison Populair HR57 Award for "Here's to Life" to her stunning list of honors. Three years later, Horn was elected to the Lionel Hampton Jazz Hall of Fame. In 1998, Marilyn Bergman, President of ASCAP honored Horn "in recognition of over four decades of her unique and influential role in interpreting the American song," and in 1999, Horn was selected as the recipient of the Phineas Newborn, Jr. Award, with an all-star tribute concert in her honor. Most recently, she was voted #1 female vocalist in the New York Jazz Critics Awards and #1 jazz vocalist in DownBeat's Critics' Poll.

Inviting listeners into an elegant and sincere musical embrace, "May the Music Never End" was the latest stunning result of Shirley Horn's singular ability to connect with her collaborators, her material, and her audience at the most heartfelt level.

After seeing Shirley and the gang at her hotel last April, I commented on her return to the piano, and a wonderful show at the Masonic Auditorium. She told me that "I'm still going strong child, and I told you I was going to play that piano again".

We'll miss you Shirley.

Bob Moog, Inventor of the Synthesizer 1934-2005

I last saw the famed Dr. Robert Moog, at the 117th AES Convention in October, posing with my friends from the Women's Audio Mission. Known for the synthesizer that bears his name, the electronic keyboard genius died at his home in Asheville, North Carolina on Sunday. He was 71. Moog was the inventor of the Moog synthesizer - whose variants have been used by everyone from Pink Floyd to Kraftwerk, Duran Duran, the Black Eyed Peas and the Neptunes - was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer in April and had received radiation therapy and chemotherapy to combat the disease, according to a post on his official Web site.

Born on May 23, 1934 in New York, Moog began tinkering with early versions of electronic instruments as a teenager. After writing an article about them in 1954, he opened a business building and selling theremins, machines in which pitch and volume could be controlled by the wave of a musicians' hand. Moog earned degrees in physics, electrical engineering and engineering physics before staring out on a path that would turn him into an icon for generations of modern musicians.

By 1963, Moog developed the first widely used electronic instrument, a synthesizer, whose first popular appearance was on the Monkees album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.. The instrument had its breakthrough, though, in 1969 when musician Walter (now known as Wendy) Carlos had a Grammy-winning smash with Switched on Bach, an album of electronic versions of Johann Sebastian Bach pieces.

Moog's synthesizers, which came with a piano-style keyboard, quickly became popular with rock musicians, who appreciated the wide range of unique sounds they could create by adjusting the various controls. Moog synthesizers appeared on the Beatles' Abbey Road and the soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange."

Moog reached a bigger audience in 1971 with his more portable Minimoog Model D, which had an even wider range of variations. His devices, which were heavily used by prog rock bands of the '70s, included the Taurus bass pedal synthesizer, which gave thick bass sounds to Genesis, Rush, U2 and the Police. Songs such as Donna Summer's 1977 disco hit "I Feel Love" were created almost entirely from Moog synthesizers, inspiring countless techno producers and artists of the 1980s and '90s.

Though digital synthesizers would eventually replace the analog ones popularized by Moog, the warm, organic tones of his instruments were rediscovered in the 1990s by a wave of musicians who sought out the original versions, spawning tribute groups such as the Moog Cookbook and a movie, "Moog," in which artists including DJ Logic, Money Mark, Mix Master Mike, DJ Spooky and Yes' Rick Wakeman paid tribute to the inventor in the "Moog Documentary Clearly A Labor Of Love, by Kurt Loder".

Moog had also recently worked with Roy "Futureman" Wooten of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, on his "Royel" piano sampler. Musical collaborator and long time friend Seth Elgart had recently purchased Moog's fabulous "50th Anniversary Moog", to go along side his other vintage synths. He proclaimed it to be one of Moog's best creations. They, like so many others, will feel the loss of one of the greatest musical icons of the 20th century, and like the amazing Dr. Theremin before him, his dream will no doubt live on forever.

Trio! Comes To The Mountain Winery

Having had the pleasure of seeing all three of these stellar musicians in many of their previous incarnations, I am genuinely looking forward to this late-summer tour. I have already gotten rave reviews of their east coast shows in Washington and Vermont. Trio! brings together the musical talents of the prodigious Stanley Clarke on bass, banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck, and the incredible French violinist Jean-Luc Ponty in a stunning genre-crossing collaboration. All three musicians are world renowned, critically acclaimed and award-winning performers and collaborators and this joint venture is an exciting exploration of their collective musical backgrounds.

Stanley Clarke has many titles: bassist, composer, conductor, orchestrator, arranger, songwriter, producer, and recording artist. In a career that has spanned more than thirty years, he has explored new territory and redefined the role of the bass as more than just a rhythm instrument. He invented the piccolo and tenor bass and is a virtuoso on both electric and acoustic instruments. His legendary work with pianists Chick Corea and "Return to Forever", and later George Duke, have stood the test of time. Clarke has won many prestigious awards, including GrammysR and Emmys, has topped the charts and has sold enough records to earn multiple gold and platinum albums. Tracks such as "Lopsy Lu" and "School Days" have immortalized him in the Jazz world. He continues to work hard on his own recordings as well as scoring numerous film and television projects, such as Boyz 'N' The Hood, The Five heartbeats, and Pee Wee's Playhouse. Like his music, he remains a constantly evolving work in progress.

Often considered the premiere banjo player in the world, Bela Fleck has virtually reinvented the image and sound of the banjo. His remarkable performing and recording career has taken him all over the musical map, both with his group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and on a range of solo projects and collaborations. He has been nominated for a Grammy award twenty times, has eight wins to his credit and has been nominated in more different categories than anyone in Grammy history. Genre-bending albums like Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Outbound, and Perpetual Motion continue to demonstrate why he is a powerful and creative force in Bluegrass, Jazz, Pop, Rock, World Beat, and Classical music, and everrything else in between.

Jean-Luc Ponty is a musical pioneer and the undisputed master of violin in jazz and rock. He is widely regarded as an innovator who has applied a visionary spin to his work and expanded the vocabulary of modern music. Born in France, the son of music teachers, he studied multiple instruments while growing up. He learned to play in the vibrant Parisian Jazz scene of the 1950s, where the violin was not necessarily an accepted modern Jazz instrument. As his talent and creativity became apparent, his notoriety grew. Over the last three and a half decades, he has toured the world many times over and worked with a variety of other musical greats, including Frank Zappa, (who added both the aforementioned George Duke and Ponty to his famed "Mothers on Invention" band, and helping secure Ponty's visa in the process!), Elton John, Al DiMeola, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and more. His solo works, including Aurora, Imaginary Voyage, Enigmatic Ocean, Cosmic Messenger, and Tchokola, have been continual chart-toppers since the 1970s and Jean-Luc Ponty remains a vibrant creative force in the Jazz-Rock world.

It doesn't get much tastier than this. Trio! will be performing at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, August 19th, and at Yosemite's Strawberry Festival in September. Sounds even tastier now!

Futureman: 'Drums Can Change Human Evolution'

"There is an ancient, ancient myth that is very, very cool," once revealed the musician-inventor-scientist-composer known as Futureman. For over ten years the eccentric percussionist has been touring with the jazz-bluegrass-fusion quartet Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.

Born under the name of Roy Wooten (his typically bizarre bio says he arrived on this planet on Oct. 30, 2050), Futureman provides the offbeat beats for one of the music world's most unconventional ensembles.

After a Grammy win for best jazz recording, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones have been riding a new peak of success on a wave that started with their formation over 10 years ago.

"What this ancient myth says is this," Futureman once explained to interviewer David Templeton, "If you stand before a statue and play perfect golden ratios, you will bring the statue to life. Now, myth is a mirror we hold up to ourselves, to show us an archetypal principle.

"So what I want to know is this," he continues. "What if we are the statues the myth refers to? What if we are the ones animated by the playing of perfect golden ratios?" Sensing that his listener doesn't know what the hell he's talking about, Futureman laughs.

"Stand up," he says, "and let your arms hang to your side with your fingers pointed to the ground. If you measure the distance from your fingertip to the floor, that's 1, and then measure from your fingertip to your head, that's 1.618. That's the perfect golden ratio. Measure from your chin to your nose, then your nose to the top of your head, that's 1 to 1.618. And so forth and so on. The body uses this over and over. So what if we are animated by this principle that is so fundamental to our architecture?"

IT'S ENOUGH to make your head spin. And spinning heads is one of Futureman's favorite tricks. Onstage, performing with banjo master Bela Fleck, bassist Victor Wooten (Futureman's brother), and saxman Jeff Coffin, the musician's out-of-this-world attitude hits critical mass.

There is no easy way to describe the music of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Innovators of the highest order, they blend sounds and styles that have no business being heard together. And yet, once played, the music sounds as if it was always meant to be performed that way.

The band's live gigs have won special acclaim because the prolific foursome are constantly finding new ways to play. "We're coming up with new music every day," Futureman says. "So onstage you'll hear stuff that is only a few days old. It excites me."

Futureman knows a thing or two about how to work a crowd. He's a conscientious backup performer, but when he has the spotlight, he goes into a frenzy, playing his invented instruments, including the Drumitar, a cannibalized $10,000 Synthaxe/guitar synthesizer he bought from guitarist Lee Ritenour, and recently the "RoyEl", a hyprid drum piano.

Sometimes shares his ideas with the audience during shows, going off on rambling monologues that have been known to compel his bandmates to leave the stage for a break. But performing with Fleck is not enough for Futureman. His immediate plans are to help bring about nothing less than a new spurt of human evolution.

His recent all-star percussion camp--which recently drew some of the grand masters of the drum community to the Nashville area--was one major step along the way. Drums, Futureman says, have always been a part of the evolutionary process. How so? Futureman's explanation, as hypnotic and brain bending as the final round of a poetry slam, is not a short one.

"The connection between drums and evolution is this," he says. "As a percussionist, as a drummer, I'm actually seeing the drum set a little differently than as a mere drum set. I see the drum set as a piano, and I see the piano as a drum set.

"What I mean is," he continues, "when you follow the arc from the very first beat on the very first log drum all the way up to the sophistication of the modern drum set--which is an attempt to put all the parade drums together for one person to access--that's a profound arrival.

"Now I see that as part of an evolution that goes all the way back to the piano, which is a percussion instrument in its harmonic context, in the sense that there are so many choices and they're all hammered events," he concludes. "I see the piano as an extension of the drum set."

Evidently evolution sometimes needs a little help. To lend a hand, Futureman has accommodated by inventing a whole new kind of instrument that splices together a drum set and a piano. Called the"RoyEl", its keyboard was designed to represent the periodic table of elements, and Futureman has already begun to compose evolutionary music. He describes these compositions as "transcendental hymns" and has now completed an entire album of this music, titled Evolution d'Amour. But this musical evolution will have to wait, because Futureman isn't ready to release it yet.

"In the whole scheme of things, I see this album as volume 7," he says. "I have this album done, but the record I have out now, The Seamless Script, is the one I think of as volume 1. Volume 1 is going to lead back up to volume 7. Like the Star Wars movies."
Futureman's excitement is contagious. Just listening to him talk about the power of rhythm is enough to make a person want to dance.

"Rhythm is fundamental," he says. "Everyone has to find his rhythm, like Michael Jordan talks about finding his rhythm on the basketball court, or Muhammad Ali talks about getting his rhythm going in the ring. He 'float[s] like a butterfly, sting[s] like a bee.' He's groovin', he's shufflin'. 'What are you gonna do, champ?' 'I'm gonna dance. I'm gonna dance. We're gonna get a rhythm. We're gonna get groovy with this thing!'

"We talk about Bruce Lee, a martial artist, who would sit for hours listening to Indian rhythms," Futureman continues. "Why? Because he was partaking of their understanding of mathematics. They could break rhythm. Bruce Lee was working with something called broken time, because in sparring with someone, he said, even if he were your equal, you can set him up, lure him into a rhythm, and then break the rhythm to create your opening. But it's all off of the rhythm.

"See what I mean?"

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

Those fortunate enough to see the world renowned banjoist, Bela Fleck and his Flecktones, (most recently at the Fillmore, and earlier at the Warfield), may be disappointed to learn that the band won't be touring again until 2006. They won't be sitting idle however, as each member will be embarking on a variety of projects including Fleck joining jazz legends, bassist Stanley Clarke and violinist Jean Luc Ponty in a group known simply as "Trio".

It's been said, that the one thoroughly American art form of jazz, is comprised of a "blend between the meeting of African and European influences and aesthetics. Spirituals, blues and work songs meld with Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, as well as the rougher forms of European folk music: an authentic sonic Democracy". It's no wonder the result has been endlessly modified and personalized in the music of the Flecktones. Improvisation seems to also present an irresistible welcoming quality, a virtual Ellis Island, amidst its energy and intellect.

Fleck took up the banjo at an early age, growing up in Manhattan of all places, eventually migrating to Nashville. Once there, he aligned himself with the now legendary "New Grass Revival", with Mark O'Connor and Edgar Meyer. Desiring to combine bluegrass with jazz, rock, and world music, Fleck began seeking other like minded folks to give life to those ideas. Not long after that, he teamed with virtuoso harmonica player Howard Levy, one of the world's greatest electric bassists Victor Lemonte Wooten, and his eccentric brother, percussionist Roy "Futureman" Wooten. "Futureman", had apparently taken a $10,000 "Synthaxe" guitar synthesizer, cannibalized it, and turned it into an electronic "drumitar", half guitar, half drum machine.

The result was spectacular, as they created a sound unlike anything heard before them. After years of touring the globe, and several successful albums, a road weary Levy left the group and was eventually replaced by saxophonist Jeff Coffin. Since then, the Flecktones have performed with an incredible array of musicians; Phish, Dave Matthews, Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis, a Tuvan throat singer named Ondar, Indian tabla master Sandip Burman, reed master Paul McCandless, steel drummer Andy Narell, and many, many others. "We wanted to record the next album with just the four of us, but when you meet all of these amazing people, we felt like we just had to record with them", said Fleck.

On their latest recording, the 3-disc set "Little Worlds" the Flecktones once again plumb the depths of their worldly experiences. In the "Ballad of Jed Clampett", the Beverly Hillbillies have an unlikely meeting with Weather Report. From there, as many influences and styles as possible are organically, convincingly congealed around the core quartet's sound and its own unique, even quirky brilliance. But it's all in fun.the tempos, ideas, references and energy shifts are often enough to keep you on the fence between laughter and awe. Even via a peripheral listening, at times you'll hear shades of Frisell, Garbareck, King Crimson, Flatt and Scruggs, the aforementioned Weather Report. Bassist Wooten is virtually now considered the "Paganinni of the electric bass" and the heir apparent to the late Jaco Pastorious. Among many other auspicious projects, both he and Bela add tracks to Mike Stern's release, "These Times."

Jazz review said of "Little Worlds", "Funny things do happen when anything is brought to America - democracy, free trade, music and art. We put our own spin on everything, especially when it gets 'lost' and fermented, specifically in places like the mountains where time and culture nearly stands still. In this case specifically, Appalachia. This is where Bluegrass came to be, carefully harking the long remembered, recognizable strains of Elizabethan honor. But possessing in their stead the original spirit and concept of improvisation the composers of European art music relied on to produce new works remains in Bluegrass country and especially the music itself. Though its origins emanate from lofty exclusionary society, its since been released from its Bastille and remains a vivacious music of the people".

In Nashville, where country and bluegrass abound, lives a musician "caught on the fence between various musical worlds, overlooking their backyards, taking what works, and fusing the rest to his own taste". The members of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones will be touring individually, with Victor Wooten and his group coming to the Fillmore. Until their return in early 2006, this may be the best way yet, to experience some of the most awe inspiring music around.