Part I: The Band, the Music

Oswald Spengler was one of the first thinkers to see history as something organic, a dynamic interplay of cause-and-effect, an ongoing dialogue between past and present. Carrying it a step further and into the realm of music, the jazz critic William Grossman wrote, "The story of jazz is a miniature history of the modern mind. [O]ne can trace a telescoped repetition of the major developments in Western thought during the past two hundred years." For Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, such socio-historical parallels amid the procession of time are a good way to sift through the complexities of their music.

In Fleck's hands, the instrument has reached a paradoxical point in its evolution: a simultaneous return to its roots and the expansion into a more eclectic realm. Together with the Flecktones (Victor Wooten, bass; Jeff Coffin, horns; and Futureman, aka RoyEl or Roy Wooten, percussion), Fleck has combined his knowledge of bluegrass, classical, country, jazz and pop adaptation to pioneer a divergent course in modern jazz. It is, to use Frost's well-worn cliché, truly "the road less travelled." As a result, the four-man collective moves far beyond the range of its frontman; the sum becomes greater than its talented parts.

Their career, which currently spans almost 12 years, has shown it. Most of their albums have met with critical acclaim, won their peers' admiration for musical skill, as well as established a die-hard fanbase. Those three things alone ought to speak in the band's favor. But in late 1999, after the release of Left of Cool and a pivotal time in the band's development, the Flecktones and their first major label, Warner, parted ways.

"When you're in a long relationship, sometimes you take each other for granted," Fleck explains. "There were certain key people who were very special and very helpful. But in the big picture, it was hard to see what they were actually doing."

The experience was a new one. After the contract's non-renewal with Warner, the Flecktones were allowed to market themselves to the highest bidder, both in monetary and creative terms. "We'd never been a free agent before," says Fleck. "We weren't looking for a big advance; we wanted participation. We just wanted them to get excited, to get involved."

The change was a good one indeed. The debut album on Sony, Outbound, won a Grammy last February for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Grammy awards have come before: to Béla, for Best Country Instrumental Performance ("Leaving Cottondale" with Alison Brown, 2001 and "Asleep at the Wheel" with Johnny Gimble, 1995); and to the entire group, for Best Instrumental Composition ("Almost 12," 1998) and Best Pop Instrumental Performance ("The Sinister Minister," 1996), to name a few. But Outbound is something altogether unique, a logical extension of the Flecktones' previous work combined with their radically different interests and theories as individuals. It is also an album that reflects the past, present and future of jazz. Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, by being simultaneously forward-looking and firmly rooted in the rich soil of jazz music, are a microcosm of the broader scene.

While a quick glance at the Grammy categories indicates the Flecktones' pan-genre musical scope, it is indicative, too, of a perpetual problem for them. Critics have difficulty placing their sound with any accuracy. On their recent tour through Europe promoting the album, Fleck commented on the Grammy and then confided, half-jokingly, to a small Hamburg audience, "I didn't even know we were a contemporary jazz band."

If professionals are simultaneously pleased and troubled by the Flecktones' output, the average listener likely has had the same issues. Yet the current musical zeitgeist is auspicious for innovative bands like the Flecktones. The pan-genre approach, while not wholly new, is witnessing a revival of sorts. World music, a term that included everything regarded as foreign (i.e., non-American or British) had its day in the 1960s and 1970s. Fusion jazz groups like Weather Report, led by two members of the jazz avant-garde, pianist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, began to integrate world music influences into their repertoire. The 1980s brought it to a more mainstream audience in the digestible form of Paul Simon's Graceland or Peter Gabriel's Passion. Today, artists like Dave Matthews and Phish are finding new ways to assimilate a more global theme into their music. And Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, joining their pop counterparts, are making that assimilation accessible within jazz.

"I think the music was happening long before," agrees Futureman apropos of the label switch, "but there's a freshness about Sony."

Collaboration, recording support and "freshness" were essential ingredients. In addition to skilled American musicians such as Adrian Belew (from King Crimson), Shawn Colvin, Edgar Meyer and Jon Anderson (of Yes), Outbound features a diverse cultural fare, such as the Tuvan throat singer Ondar and Indian classical vocalist Rita Sahai. The introduction of foreign influence has traditionally been a problem for jazz musicians. John Coltrane, for example, estranged his more casual listeners when he tried to expand jazz far beyond its American borders. With Outbound, however, the Flecktones have discovered a delicate balance that appeals more than it alienates.

Nothing could better demonstrate the Flecktones' growing fanbase than the hard facts. Four gigs in London, three of them sold-out, kicked off their 15-day European tour in May. "Four clubs equals one theatre," Fleck notes approvingly, seeing it as a positive sign for the next tour of the Old World. "Every time we come, more people come back. We're doing better internationally than we ever have because we try to come back once a year. Word of mouth helps, too. Pretty soon you've got a full house every time." Though they had only played a festival in Amsterdam, the recent Flecktones performance in that city was also sold-out. Which pleases Fleck: "The live show," not the album, "is what it's all about."

Jeff Coffin sees it a bit differently. "It's kind of a Catch-22," he says. "You come to Europe and people don't know to check if you're coming." Though he describes the experience as "always positive," he adds that the Flecktones "don't always hit the same markets," making it difficult to build a firm following.

A nod from more mainstream acts over the past several years boosted the Flecktones' popularity on both continents. "It really helped when we got the thumbs up from Dave Matthews and Phish," says Fleck. "We were thrilled. They're huge and yet they were very giving. Although I have to say, before that we were doing fine." Victor Wooten worked with Bootsy Collins and Dave Matthews Band drummer Carter Beauford on his third album, Yin Yang (1999); and the Flecktones, individually or as a group, played on those bands' last album and have joined them onstage for stadium-size concerts. Through coincidental and amiable exchanges such as these, the list of names on the Flecktones' extracurricular roster consequently reads like an encyclopaedic "who' s-who" of the contemporary music world. It's a fundamental tenet of the organic, cooperative nature of jazz--and music in general. Leading performers pool their talents and, far from being incestuous, it becomes a process of redefinition and expansion.

It is this attitude, not just the accolades, that is winning the Flecktones admirers. Fleck sees no direct correlation to the Grammy, creative inspiration and the subsequent audience growth, but "it didn't hurt. It also shows that we stayed together long enough."

From Sony's perspective, likely influenced by the prospective dollars, the Grammy warranted more support. In March the label re-issued the album in Europe, where it had had only modest sales, and also "re-serviced" it (in the words of the Flecktones' tour manager, David Bendett), which means that phone calls went out to record stores to certify that the album was receiving its due promotion.

While his music with the Flecktones continually reinvents itself, Sony has also given Fleck the green light on a classical-based recording. With performance cameos from Edgar Mayer, John Williams and Joshua Bell, he will interpret scores by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and a piano piece called "Children's Corner" by Claude Debussy. Only a working title exists for the forthcoming album, but, as a clue to its sound, Fleck divulged that he will be touring with the eclectic artist Keb Mo in the future.

And, finally, Sony has approved a concept package. Earth Jam, which will appear in July, is a DVD from a live performance at Quickcenter in Fairfield, CT. Originally aired on Music Choice, it will be accompanied by a live CD. Here the Flecktones have taken another lesson from the Dave Matthews band and Phish, not to mention their jazz predecessors, by emphasising the energy and improvisations of the live set. In a moment of tongue-in-cheek disdain, NOFX once parodied the idea--"...I gotta let you know / it's not the tunes, it's the live show / and all the people you get to meet"--but, in the Flecktones case, a concept package like Earth Jam is all part and parcel of a larger agenda.

"Nowadays we're playing and we're trying to take time off [for solo projects], too, because then everyone comes back refreshed," Fleck says. The time off is much-needed. After an inspired performance in Hamburg (the setlist appears below), the band appeared at the WOMAD (World of Arts, Music and Dance) Festival, Peter Gabriel's brainchild, in Cáceres, Spain. And just a few days later, they returned to the United States for a short break before another cross-country tour.

Quite simply, no. As Leornard Bernstein wrote in his famous Esquire essay on jazz and the symphony, "the great synthesis goes irrevocably on." These collective and self-explorations have put the Flecktones at the forefront of modern jazz, the next step in the natural concatenation of the music. Not to put too fine a point on it, their output is a palimpsest of styles and history, an endless creative flux. By branching out into different fields while winning over new fans, the Flecktones demonstrate that it is possible to invent and compose without compromising ideals. And that alone will be enough to please the jazz historians of future generations.

Setlist from Béla Fleck and the Flecktones' May 12 show in Hamburg:
Imagine This (from Wooten's Yin Yang)
Throwdown (Left of Cool)
Big Country (Left of Cool)
Scratch & Sniff (Outbound)
Victor Solo
Scuttlebutt (UFO Tofu)
Sunset Row (Cosmic Cow)
Heidi*
Futureman Solo
Sherpa*
Earth Jam (Outbound)
Béla Solo
Hoedown (Outbound, encore)
*indicates new material

Coming up in July... Part II: The Music, the Scene.