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I like the idea of every five years going somewhere else. I don't want to go and only learn African music or only learn Chinese music, but I think that by immersing myself in these cultures I can inform my own music. -Béla Fleck |
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Photo of Bassekou Kouyate and Béla Fleck
One of the most satisfying and mesmerizing tracks on the album is "Wairenziante," which translates to, "Even if I don't have a cow (someone will love me)." In addition to three dozen musicians, it features a 15-foot marimba (xylophone) constructed over a pit in the earth. Fleck laughs when he recalls how it took about seven or eight men to play it.
One of the tracks was born in Fleck's studio in Nashville out of a 22-minute jam session with D'Gary and two other musicians, and he decided to bring it with him to Africa. Through the use of his studio and editing programs, Fleck later added instrumentation and vocals recorded in Africa and the result is a lush, expansive six-minute track with 20 musicians.
 Béla Fleck in Africa |
What is interesting is that almost all the tracks feature the banjo, and in every instance it sounds in place. Some of the tracks feature a fiddle and are reminiscent of bluegrass despite being clearly African in form and pattern. Even a simple arrangement of banjo with vocals sounds surprisingly complex, due in part, I suspect, to the polyrhythmic layering of African music and uniquely African vocal timbres. The acoustic banjo's sound is so pure and straightforward that it provides the perfect accompaniment and compliment to the voices and traditional African instruments featured on the album. Given what Fleck discovered about the origins of the banjo, this should come as little surprise.
Almost certainly the banjo came to the Americas with the slave trade as populations from Western Africa were depleted. It's likely that the banjo prototype came from the Gambian akonting, a three-stringed round lute made from a gourd stretched taut with animal skin, or the Malian n'goni, which has a longer, more oblong body than the round banjo. While the steel-stringed banjo is certainly a more refined, stylized instrument, it's clear, both visually and musically, that these age-old instruments and traditions have informed everything from the field hollers to the blues to Americana and beyond. The new album and Fleck's documentary are arguably essential listening for those seeking the lines of connection between the instrument we know and its ancestors.
To experience the music and cultural history of Africa more deeply, Fleck is trying something new with a two-week tour to support the album's release. He's brought four of the African musicians over for the tour. Vocalist Vusi Mahlasela (simply called "The Voice"), guitarist D'Gary from Madagascar, kora player Toumani Diabate and thumb piano player and singer Anania Ngolia will join Fleck for a two-week tour, already in progress. Each evening's format will likely be the artists performing solo and then Fleck joining each for a couple numbers. Each evening on the 15-date tour will culminate with a 'jam' of sorts, most likely tunes from the album. Fleck says the trick was selecting musicians who were stylistically and sonically different enough from each other yet could all come together each night while keeping each performance intimate.
So, would he do it all again?
"Absolutely," he says without skipping a beat. "I like the idea of every five years going somewhere else. I don't want to go and only learn African music or only learn Chinese music, but I think that by immersing myself in these cultures I can inform my own music."
Though he acknowledges taking on the roles of planner, financier and performer was a significant endeavor, it was "incredibly rewarding" and he looks forward to the next project. And it is visionary projects like Fleck's that remind us how we are all connected, that music from cultures across the globe can lead us to our roots.
Béla Fleck is currently on tour with Toumani Diabate and Vusi Mahlasela, details available here. For a better idea of what to expect at these very special shows, check our review from last week in Oakland here.
You can get more info on the documentary film at www.throwdownyourheart.com.
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