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Béla Fleck: Little Words

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Sony Music Entertainement
Released: 2003.08.12
Time:
 52:18 / 46:02 / 51:30
Category: Progressive Jazz
Producer(s): Béla Fleck
Rating: *********. (9/10)
Media type: CD Triple
Web address: www.flecktones.com
Appears with: Victor Wooten
Purchase date: 2004.01.07
Price in €: 23,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


DISC 1
[1] Untitled Hidden Track - 0:48
[2] Bil Mon (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 8:42
[3] Ballad of Jed Clampett (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 4:06
[4] Puffy (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 6:45
[5] New Math (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 6:58
[6] Longitude (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 3:04
[7] Latitude (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 5:04
[8] Centrifuge (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 2:05
[9] Off the Top (The Gravity Wheel) (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 4:54
[10] Off the Top (Line Dance) (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 9:49

DISC 2
[1] The Fjords of Oslo (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 0:40
[2] Sherpa (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 5:20
[3] What It Is (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 3:41
[4] The Leaning Tower (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 6:05
[5] Mudslingers of the Milky Way (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 6:14
[6] Captive Delusions (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 3:54
[7] Costa Brava (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 8:22
[8] Poindexter (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 5:38
[9] Prequel (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 3:14
[10] Return of the Mudslingers (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 2:50

DISC 3
[1] The Cave (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 1:35
[2] Next (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 5:56
[3] Pineapple Heart (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 5:05
[4] Snatchin' (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 4:46
[5] Reminiscence (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 5:33
[6] Sleeper (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 12:16
[7] Flunky (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 0:39
[8] The Last Jam (Béla Fleck & Flecktones) - 14:25
[9] Untitled Hidden Track - 1:11

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


BÉLA FLECK - Synthesizer, Banjo, Piano, Vocals, Liner Notes, Mixing, Photography, Electric Banjo, Synthesizer Banjo
VICTOR WOOTEN - Acoustic, Fretless, Upright, 6-Szring & Electric Bass, Piano, Cello, Keyboards
FUTURE MAN - Cymbals, Drums, Gong, Vocals, Cajon, Synthaxe
JEFF COFFIN - Soprano & Bass Clarinet, Alto Flute, Keyboards, Alto, Tenor & Soprano Saxophone, Whistle, Didjeridu, Photography, Finger Cymbals

JERRY DOUGLAS - Dobro, Lap Steel Guitar
DEREK BELL - Irish Harp
MATT MOLLOY - Flute
SAM BUSH - Mandolin
BOBBY MCFERRIN - Vocals
KEVIN CONNEFF - Vocals, Bodhran
PADDY MOLONEY - Uillean Pipes
BRANFORD MARSALIS - Soprano Saxophone
DEREK TRUCKS - Electric Guitar
JOE WOOTEN - Theremin
MATT MALLOY - Flute
CHRIS THILE - Mandolin
PAUL BRANTLEY - Cello
SANDIP BURMAN - Tabla
SARA WATKINS - Fiddle
SEAN WATKINS - Guitar
PAMELIA KURSTIN - Theremin
SEAN KEANE - Fiddle
BERNIE WILLIAMS - Guitar
GANESH KUMAR - Kanjira
PATRICK CAHALAN - Design
GANESH CHANDRAM - Kanjira
SUBASCH CHANDRAM - Vocals, Jaw Harp, Gatam
JAKE SHIMABUKERO - Ukulele

RICHARD BATTAGLIA - Engineer, Mixing, Photography
LOUIE FLECK - Engineer, Photography
TALLEY SHERWOOD - Engineer
DOUG SAX - Mastering
ROBERT HADLEY - Mastering
GIULIO TURTURRO - Art Direction
CHRISTOPHER AUSTOPCHUK - Art Direction
JONATHAN MORSE - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2003 CD Columbia 86353



Super-jazz freakout bluegrass picker Béla Fleck's broad three-CD concept album has ambitious intentions, but ultimately ends up feeling a bit scattered. The idea seems to have been to record an album that sounds like sitting in a car and flipping through radio stations — hearing snippets of hip-hop, Chinese opera, Irish folk, Hawaiian ukulele, mid-'80s funk, and, of course, bluegrass and jazz, then expanding that experience out to three entire discs. If any group on the planet could pull this off, it could only be Fleck and his Flecktones, but the concept (being as convoluted as it is) makes for a rather uneven listen. The bright and jazzy "Puffy" neatly bridges the gap between contemporary jazz and new acoustic music, and tabla, Irish harp, and even theremin meld nicely on the genre-spanning "Sleeper." On the flip side, the bizarro hip-hop version of Flatt & Scruggs' "Ballad of Jed Clampett" never needed to be recorded, and many of the songs seem cluttered and over-tweaked, almost as if during production the band reasoned that the addition of more instruments and more synthesized sounds could only enhance the music. The addition of nearly everyone they knew — including Bobby McFerrin, several of the Chieftains, Nickel Creek, and even the lady from the Chinese restaurant down the street — only adds to the confusion.It seems as though Fleck will never run out of ideas, and taken one at a time, the majority of the songs have obvious merit, but as each of the songs drift from centuries-old Indian percussion into one of Future Man's synth-axe drumitar jams, it sounds a little too disjointed and almost "quirky for quirky's sake." "Say, what if we mixed digeridoo with an electric synth banjo?" "Well, OK...but only as long as I can have a gong solo!" Sorry fellas, but just because the instruments exist doesn't mean they all need to show up in the same song. Still, every note is impeccably played and pristinely recorded, and those Flecktones fans who like to pull apart their extremely technical pieces of music, analyze them, and put them back together will find hours of rabid discussion on Little Worlds. [Sony also released a stripped-down, ten-song version of the project called Ten From Little Worlds.]

Zac Johnson - All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2004 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



The little worlds that Béla Fleck and the Flecktones are visiting on this ambitious recording are the diverse musical environments that inform their own widely eclectic art. The banjo phenomenon and his daring band wrap their far-reaching imaginations around all manner of sounds here: bluegrass, ska, jazz, Celtic, blues, rock, rap, and classical all somehow find their place, nestling productively against each other. Guests include vocalist Bobby McFerrin ("The Ballad of Jed Clampett," "What It Is," "Sleeper"); mandolinist Sam Bush ("The Ballad of Jed Clampett," "Pineapple Heart,"); guitarist Derek Trucks ("Centrifuge," "Pineapple Heart," "The Last Jam"); Nickel Creek ("Line Dance"); the Chieftains ("The Leaning Tower"); Dobro player Jerry Douglas ("Poindexter," "The Last Jam"); and guitarist Bernie Williams ("The Last Jam").The single-disc version, Ten from Little Worlds, brings fans the highlights at a special price.

William Pearl - Barnes and Noble



The compositions on Béla Fleck and the Flecktones' three-CD set Little Worlds are ambitious, audacious, and, at times, a bit absurd. The musicianship of Fleck and his compatriots bassist Victor Wooten, saxophonist/flautist Jeff Coffin, and electro-percussionist Future Man is as accomplished as ever. Even when they are engaging in a slice of silliness like their version of "The Ballad of Jed Clampett," which they re-imagine as a sort of a rap rhapsody, the intelligence and sheer inventiveness of the performers keeps the music from descending to a trivial level. The 27 tracks are practically swarming with guest artists from a wide range of traditions, including Bobby McFerrin, Branford Marsalis, Nickel Creek, the Chieftains, Fleck’s former New Grass Revival band mate Sam Bush, and the Tuvan throat singer Congar Ol Ondar. Perhaps the most intriguing visitors are Pamelia Kurstin, who plays Theremin on a number of tracks, and Jake Shimabukuro, a remarkable young ukulele player from Hawaii. The music on Little Words combines experimental sonic textures, complex harmonies, intricate rhythms, and charming melodies with impressive instrumental chops. Béla Fleck and the Flecktones are serious musicians, but their music, which is infused with joy, is never somber.

Michael Simmons - Amazon.com



Little Worlds ist wohl die bisher aufwändigste, üppigste und experimentierfreudigste Produktion des New Yorker Banjo-Spielers. Über den Albumtitel sagt Béla Fleck: "Er vermittelt die Idee, dass jeder Song wie ein Planet sein könnte, der seine eigenen Regeln besitzt." Mindestens erweisen sich die Flecktones, jene Band aus vier Musikern, die Fleck 1989 ins Leben rief, jedoch als Global Player, die es, von den USA aus gesehen, in rund 150 Minuten Musik immer weiter nach Osten treibt: vom Folk Jazz und Funk über keltische und orientalische Klänge bis hin zu indischen Ragas und chinesischen Opernstimmen. Ohnehin ist Fleck ein Meister der Grenzüberschreitung. Seinen Stil hatte er zunächst "Blu-Bop" genannt: ein Mix aus Jazz und Bluegrass, der schnell erfolgreich wurde. Und Fleck, der inzwischen weltweit als versiertester Banjo-Spieler gilt, ist zudem der einzige Musiker, der für so verschiedene Grammy-Sparten wie Jazz, Bluegrass, Pop, Country, Komposition und Weltmusik nominiert worden ist. Vier Grammys hat er bisher erhalten. Little Worlds sollte eigentlich ein Vier-Personen-Album werden. Und allein damit hätten die Flecktones mehr als punkten können. Denn die Schwindel erregenden Saitenläufe auf Banjo und Bass, das virtuose Klappenspiel auf Saxofon und Querflöte faszinieren immer wieder aufs Neue. Nicht zu vergessen die elektronische Percussion, die Roy Wooten, alias Future Man, auf seiner Synth-Axe-Drumitar beisteuert: einem selbst gebastelten Gerät aus Drumkit und Gitarre, das Wooten mittels Touch Pads bedient. Doch während der Aufnahmen zu Little Worlds gesellten sich immer mehr Gastmusiker hinzu. Zu den prominentesten zählen der Stimmkünstler Bobby McFerrin, der zusammen mit Divinity eine Rap-Version von "Ballad Of Jed Clampett" interpretiert, oder der Saxofonist Branford Marsalis, für den Fleck eigens den Song "Captive Delusions" geschrieben hat. Eindrucksvoll ist auch das reichhaltige Instrumentarium. Nicht nur sind Harfe, Mandoline, E-Gitarre, indische Perkussion, Cello, Ukelele, Didgeridoo und Dudelsack zu hören, auf "Next" tritt sogar ein tuvanischer Obertonsänger auf. Mit all dem liefern Fleck und die Flecktones ein intelligentes, absolut lustvolles musikalisches Vexierspiel, das durch Folk-Anklänge, Jazzharmonien, allerlei Effektgeräte und urbanen Speed so richtig auflebt. Little Worlds ist ein rauschendes Fest aus Rhythmen, wunderbar vertrackten Metren und zarten Melodien, in dem jeder Track wie ein anderes, neuartiges, gelungenes Experiment klingt. Bei so viel Fingerfertigkeit und Spaß an der Musik wirkt jeder Overdub wie von gestern.

Roman Rhode - Aus der Amazon.de-Redaktion
 

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