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Béla Fleck: Across the Imaginary Divide

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Rounder Records
Released: 2012.06.05
Time:
 62:43
Category: Jazz
Producer(s): Béla Fleck, Marcus Roberts
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.flecktones.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2013
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Some Roads Lead Home (Fleck) - 6:16
[2] I'm Gonna Tell You This Story One More Time (Roberts) - 5:42
[3] Across The Imaginary Divide (Fleck) - 4:42
[4] Let Me Show You What To Do (Roberts) - 4:55
[5] Petunia (Fleck/Roberts) - 5:01
[6] Topaika (Roberts) - 4:33
[7] One BlueTruth  (Fleck) - 4:26
[8] Let's Go (Roberts) - 5:58
[9] Kalimba (Fleck) - 6:22
[10] The Sunshine And The Moonlight (Roberts) - 5:37
[11] That Old Thing (Fleck) - 5:07
[12] That Ragtime Feeling (Roberts) - 4:08

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Béla Fleck - Banjo, Engineer, Liner Notes, Producer

Marcus Roberts - Piano, Producer, Liner Notes
Jason Marsalis - Drums
Rodney Jordan - Bass

Richard Battaglia - Engineer
Les Stephenson - Engineer
Fred Chester - Assistant
Richard Dodd - Mastering, Mixing
John Douglas - Photography
Anne Garee - Piano Technician
Nancy Given - Design
Ayano Hisa - Photography
Ben Moore - Photography
David Bendett - Management
Lynn Moore - Management

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Across the Imaginary Divide is a 2012 album by banjoist Béla Fleck and jazz pianist Marcus Roberts. Fleck and Roberts first jammed together in 2009 at the Savannah Music Festival.



For Béla Fleck, what began as an informal sit-in jam with the Marcus Roberts Trio at the 2009 Savannah Music Festival has brought to fruition a completely conceived collaborative effort on Across the Imaginary Divide. This might have been a lot easier for both men if they'd focused on simply interpreting jazz, bluegrass, and blues standards in a unique (read: gimmicky) manner, but it would not have been true to either musician's nature. Neither has ever taken the easy way out. Almost all of the music here was written especially for this project by either Roberts or Fleck, albeit separately with this recording in mind. The melding of styles here is dizzying and the two front-line players both exchange not only solos, but often various counterpoint exercises in melody (the title track being a stellar example). On Roberts' "I'm Gonna Tell You This Story One More Time," blues, Latin grooves, and bossa all intertwine. Fleck's "Kalimba" reflects the work he's been doing with African music in recent years, but the trio extends his solo intro (which actually mirrors the tonalities of the thumb piano the tune was named for) and transforms it first into a scintillating minor-mode ballad, before shape-shifting it into a swinging hard bop tune. What's more compelling is the way bassist Rodney Jordan and drummer Jason Marsalis interact with the front line; whether it's reversing roles in the middle of Roberts' "The Sunshine and the Moonlight" or actually taking the lead during the bridge of Fleck's "That Old Thing." Given that the banjo is a front-line instrument in this ensemble, bluegrass does make appearances here, especially in the opener, "Some Roads Lead Home," and in the lone jointly written "Petunia," but it is an element in a music that also references gospel, Gypsy jazz, Ellingtonian swing, bop, hard bop, post-bop, and deep blues. Across the Imaginary Divide is not only a well-realized collaboration between four musical masters, but a study in the integration of roots music from the 19th and 20th centuries as they are transformed into 21st century jazz.

Thom Jurek - AllMusic.com



2012 collaboration between banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck and Jazz pianist Marcus Roberts and his trio. Roberts' Trio is known for its virtuosic style: a style that is strongly rhythmic, melodic, and filled with dynamic contrast. Fleck is often considered the premier banjo player in the world. He has virtually reinvented the image and the sound of the banjo through a remarkable performing and recording career that has taken him all over the musical map and on a range of solo projects and collaborations. "It was a lot of fun working with Béla on this project. He has a limitless imagination and, like our trio, he is willing to do whatever it takes to make a great record. The recording brings our two styles together in a way that I think will be really enjoyable for the listeners," said Roberts.

Amazon.com



Across The Imaginary Divide, the collaboration between banjoist Béla Fleck and The Marcus Roberts Trio, is as adventurous as its title suggests. And the fruit of these four musicians' labor is as seamless as their approach is fearless. The opening moments of "Some Roads Lead Home" demonstrate that the modesty with which the foursome interacts does not belie their skills. There is no showboating, as Fleck's acoustic instrument gives way to pianist Marcus Roberts' and their fluidity carries over to the rhythm section of drummer Jason Marsalis and bassist Rodney Jordan during "I'm Gonna Tell You This Story One More Time." Appropriately enough, it is on the title song that Fleck and Roberts' trio reach the first of many breathless passages of improvisation. Crisp exchanges between the two melody instruments lead into a four-way instrumental conversation in which the eloquence of the players impresses individually and collectively. None of the participants relinquish their unique personalities during the course of Across The Imaginary Divide and, while this constitutes a serious endeavor to be sure, the musicianship nevertheless radiates an unmistakable air of good humor that enhances its purpose. No doubt derived from their first, serendipitous jam back in 2009, Fleck, Roberts, Marsalis and Jordan bring a playful atmosphere to "Let's Go" and "Kalimba" before a noticeable gearshift occurs, the group bearing down to parlay overt declarations of style, in the traditional acoustic jazz fronted by Roberts on "That Old Thing" and the even more clearly defined and equally accessible "That Ragtime Feeling."

These four musicians are, indeed, bonded as a band and often sound larger than just a quartet. Their precision on "Petunia" is just as noticeable on "Topaika," but the intricacy of their interaction on the latter cut is even denser. That said, this music invites repeated listening precisely because it is not impenetrable; the sparkling clarity of sound, as coproduced by Fleck and Roberts, highlights the varying textures within the mix, including the low notes struck by Jordan and the washes of cymbals from Marsalis. The end result is music that is colorful in the most vibrant way. While none of the dozen tracks on Across The Imaginary Divide extends very long, there is nevertheless a palpable continuity over the course of its one-hour playing time that make it comparable to a well-paced live performance. The spontaneous quality is all the more remarkable, given that it arises from the care given the track sequencing, the crowning touch to a project that offers a diversity of pleasures from start to finish. Track Listing: Some Roads Lead Home; I'm Gonna Tell You This Story One More Time; Across the Imaginary Divide; Let Me Show You What to Do; Petunia; Topaika; One Blue Truth; Let's Go; Kalimba; The Sunshine and the Moonlight; That Old Thing; That Ragtime Feeling.

DOUG COLLETTE, June 10, 2012
AllAboutJazz.com



The implications of this album's title are not new to Bela Fleck. The US banjo star has been applying a jazz sensibility to bluegrass, classical music and rock for over 20 years - but in swapping former Wynton Marsalis pianist Marcus Roberts' jazz trio for his Flecktones group here, the crossover agenda is even more explicit than usual: idiom jumps, groove and tempo shifts jostle through the music. But Fleck and Roberts are sweepingly skilful improvisers, and a blues-infused tracklist buzzes with melody. Some Roads Lead Home shuffles bluesy earthiness and bright swing, before huffing to a halt like a decelerating steam train. I'm Gonna Tell You is a Latin cruiser for a relaxed and expansive Roberts, and there are New Orleans street band marches, ball-busting bebop excursions, barn-dance whirlings and Chick Corea-like Latin-jazz swingers. A bit more wait-and-see would have been nice, but it's a session with a lot of charm, and plenty of jaw-dropping playing.

John Fordham - 2 August 2012
theguardian.com



Across the Imaginary Divide's stylistic blend works best when tilting in banjoist Béla Fleck's direction. It's not that pianist Marcus Roberts falls short in either playing or concept, embracing old-school traditions as well as modernism. Far from it. Roberts seems far more comfortable on Fleck's turf - his trademarked fusion of bluegrass, jazz and rock - than vice versa.

Petunia, for example, finds Fleck charging like a jackrabbit through a straight-up bluegrass jam. Roberts not only keeps up with him, he counters Fleck's workout with a beautifully constructed blues, then trades places so that the banjo plays the blues and the piano plays the workout. Elsewhere the album evokes Fleck's fusion approach. "One Blue Truth" is a midtempo stroll built on a gentle rock backbeat; bassist Rodney Jordan splits the theme with Fleck, who crafts a melodic, feathery-toned improvisation, which Roberts follows with a masterfully sweet solo that alludes to Fleck's.

Put Fleck in a ragtime or folk tune, however, and he sounds ham-fisted. It doesn't help that Jordan's arco on "Let Me Show You What to Do" sounds like he's playing a jug, but it's Fleck's self-consciously twangy theme that ultimately undoes it. His work on the tango "I'm Gonna Tell You This Story One More Time" disrupts the flowing rhythm with spastic run-on lines. On the closers "That Old Thing" and "That Ragtime Feeling", he's just plain corny (though a stellar Jason Marsalis drum solo redeems the latter).

Uneven though it is, Divide is consistent in that everyone's clearly having fun throughout. And Roberts and Fleck have real chemistry. Given a steadier, more amenable design, they'd do very well together.

Michael J. West
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