Who is Bela Fleck

He is a jazz musician.

Do you enjoy jazz? Do you enjoy the banjo? Have you ever listened to jazz banjo? If not, then you probably haven't listened to Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.

He is a blue grass musician.

Bela Fleck has won Grammy Awards for his country and blue grass renditions. Fleck has shared Grammy wins with Asleep at the Wheel, Alison Brown, and Edgar Meyer. He has been nominated in more categories than any other musician,[2] namely country, pop, jazz, bluegrass, classical, folk, spoken word, composition, and arranging.

He's the banjo virtuoso and still touring.

Here is a link to his tour schedule: http://www.belafleck.com/tourdates.html.

1978

Tasty Licks - This is the band Béla joined when he moved to Boston. Band members were Jack Tottle, Stacy Phillips, Paul Kahn, Robin Kincaid. Rounder

1979

Crossing The Tracks - Béla's first solo album featuring Jerry Douglas, Pat Enright, Sam Bush, Mark Schatz, Bob Applebaum and Russ Barenberg

Anchored to the Shore - Tasty Licks Rounder

1981

Opening Roll - Spectrum with Mark Schatz, Glenn Lawson, and Jimmy Gaudreau Rounder

Fiddle Tunes For Banjo - with Tony Trischka and Bill Keith, an album of traditional fiddle tunes played on the 5-string banjo featuring Russ Barenberg, Andy Statman, Sam Bush and Darol Anger Rounder

1982

Natural Bridge - featuring Mark O'Connor, David Grisman, Mike Marshall and Sam Bush - New Acoustic Music ROUN0146

It's Too Hot For Words - Spectrum with Jimmy Mattingly, Mark Schatz, Glenn Lawson, and Jimmy Gaudreau. Rounder

1983

The Dreadful Snakes - Jerry Douglas, Pat Enright, Blain Sprouse, Mark Hembree, Roland White - Traditional-grounded Bluegrass Music Rounder

Live in Japan - Spectrum Rounder

Live - New Grass Revival - Live show from Touluse, France. Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, Pat Flynn and John Cowan - Hard-edged blend of bluegrass, rock and soul Sugar Hill

1984

Double Time - a series of duets between Béla and other musical greats such as David Grisman, Mark O'Connor and Tony Rice ROUN0181

Deviation - rock and jazz-influenced album featuring Sam Bush, John Cowan, Pat Flynn, Mark O'Connor, Jerry Douglas and others ROUN0196

On the Boulevard - New Grass Revival Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, Pat Flynn and John Cowan - Hard-edged blend of bluegrass, rock and soul Sugar Hill

1986

Inroads - solo project featuring Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Pat Flynn, Kirby Shelstad, Mark O'Connor, John Cowan, Timothy Britton, Edgar Meyer ROUN0219

New Grass Revival - New Grass Revival Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, Pat Flynn and John Cowan - Hard-edged blend of bluegrass, rock and soul Capitol

1987

Daybreak - compilation featuring selections from Crossing The Tracks, Fiddle Tunes For Banjo, Anchored To The Shore and Natural Bridge ROUN11518

Hold to a Dream - New Grass Revival Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, Pat Flynn and John Cowan - Hard-edged blend of bluegrass, rock and soul Capitol

1988

Drive - a solo Bluegrass project featuring Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Mark O'Connor, Tony Rice and Mark Schatz

Places - a compilation featuring selections from Deviation, Snakes Alive, Double Time and Inroads ROUN11522

1989

Friday Night in America - New Grass Revival - Last NGR Album Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, Pat Flynn and John Cowan - Hard-edged blend of bluegrass, rock and soul Capitol

The Telluride Sessions - Strength In Numbers with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor, a work of New Acoustic music MCA

1990

Béla Fleck And The Flecktones - the first Flecktones album. Howard Levy and Victor Wooten and FutureMan Warner Brothers

1991

Flight Of The Cosmic Hippo - the second Flecktones album Warner Brothers

1992

UFO TOFU - third Flecktones album (last with Howard) Warner Brothers

Solo Banjo Works - with Tony Trischka, an album of unaccompanied banjos ROUN0247

1993

Three Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - the fourth Flecktones - first Trio album with guests Branford Marsalis and Bruce Hornsby Warner Brothers

1995

Tales From The Acoustic Planet - solo project featuring Chick Corea, Sam Bush, Bruce Hornsby, Edgar Meyer, Branford Marsalis, Jerry Douglas, Paul McCandless, Tony Rice, Victor and Future Man to name a few Warner Brothers

1996

Live Art - Béla Fleck & the Flecktones - a double live album with many guests Warner Brothers

Tabula Rasa - with Béla, Jie-Bing Chen, V.M. Bhatt, Rony Majumdar, Poovalur Srinivasan and Sangeeta Shankar Water Lily Acoustics

Aras - by Curandero with Kai Eckhardt

1997

Uncommon Ritual - with Edgar Meyer & Mike Marshall Sony

1998

Left of Cool - Béla Fleck & the Flecktones with Dave Mathews and Amy Grant Warner Brothers

1999

Tales from the Acoustic Planet Vol 2, the Bluegrass Sessions - Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Sam Bush, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Mark Schatz, Stuart Duncan Warner Brothers

Greatest Hits of the 20th Century - Warner Brothers released this CD after the band moved to Columbia Records. This is a compilation from 5 previous albums. There are two new tunes on this CD that were not released on any other CD's. Warner Brothers

2000

Outbound - Béla Fleck & the Flecktones Grammy Winning CD Columbia

2001

Perpetual Motion - Classical Crossover Grammy Winning CD Sony Classical

2002

Live at the Quick - Béla Fleck & the Flecktones with many guests Columbia

2003

Little Worlds - Béla Fleck & the Flecktones with the Chieftains, Bobby McFerrin and many great guests Columbia

2004

Music for Two - Béla & Edgar Meyer Live SONY

2006

The Hidden Land - Béla Fleck & the Flecktones SONY

Rory Gallagher: Live in Montreux (DVD) Eagle Eye Media More Information....

The Sparrow Quartet (EP) - Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet Nettwerk Productions

2007

The Enchantment - Béla Fleck & Chick Corea Concord

2008

Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet - Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet Nettwerk Productions

Jingle All The Way - Béla Fleck & the Flecktones Rounder

2009

Throw Down Your Heart, Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Africa Sessions - Béla Fleck Rounder

... you'll automatically be making a donation to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, working to find a cure for Leukemia and Lymphoma.

Doesn't that feel good?

Throw Down Your Heart is a musical documentary that follows American banjo virtuoso, Bela Fleck. It chronicles his journey to Africa to explore the little known African roots of the banjo and record an album. Bela's boundary breaking musical adventure takes him to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali providing a glimpse of the beauty and complexity of Africa. Using his banjo, Bela transcends barriers of language and culture.

The prototype of the banjo was brought to American shores by African slaves. Bela Fleck and director Sascha Paladino are currently premiering the film at festivals nationwide. It shows Bela performing with a group of Kenyan women singers, the Haruna Samake Trio, and Bassekou Kouate from Mali who plays the n'goni, the Malian banjo.

Bela Fleck won two Grammy award for his documentary film Throw Down Your Heart and the title song to the documentary film.

Best Contemporary World Music Album - Throw Down Your Heart
Best Pop Instrumental Performance - for the song 'Throw Down Your Heart'

Bela accepted both wards on behalf of "all the amazing and talented people who made this project come to life". Bela has also created a new album from the unreleased tracks from the project. It's called "Throw Down Your Heart - Africa Sessions Part 2. It includes songs from the film that weren't on the first album. There are 14 trcks and a 46 page digital booklet. Download it today from the: Facebook page.