New South Africa
In 1977 NASA launched two interstellar probes, Voyager 1 and 2. Voyager 1 is to this day the man-made device that has traveled the furthest from earth. Each Voyager vessel had on board, in addition to a plethora of scientific detective equipment, two golden records. The gold-colored phonographs were filled with pictures, drawings, diagrams, mathematical equations, nature sounds, human speech, laughter… and music. The contents of the discs were chosen by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan, and the committee put significant time and effort into making their selections. The musical tracks that ended up on the records were varied: traditional folk music from around the globe, classical greatest hits from Beethoven, Back, and Stravinsky, “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” by Blind Willie Johnson, and Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” all made the cut. Personally, I’m not crazy about the placement of Chuck’s tune—I’d prefer it at the start of disc two, or the end of one of the discs I think, rather than sandwiched in the middle—but this is a minor quibble. Overall, I think the records are a fair representation of music on our planet through the year 1977.
Contemplating the selections on the Voyager golden records led me to a related question. When the aliens arrive (and hopefully they’re arriving soon, because I think we could use the help), if I had to pick one living musician as diplomatic representative to introduce music to our interstellar guests, who would that musician be? I would want someone knowledgeable, enthusiastic, curious, and brave. Herbie Hancock springs to mind. Jacob Collier would also make a great ambassador. I could see Jacob relating to aliens. In fact, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen definitive evidence that Jacob Collier is not an alien. However, after much consideration, one name rose to the top of my list. Well, four names actually: Béla Anton Leoš Fleck.
I can think of few other popular living musicians who have delved as deeply into as many genres as Béla Fleck. Fleck’s Wikipedia page states that he creates jazz, jazz fusion (not sure what that is), bluegrass, folk, classical, world (isn’t “world” exactly what we should be looking for from an earthly ambassador?), folk rock (not a thing), and fleck. Yes, Wikipedia lists one of the types of music that Béla Fleck plays as “fleck,” which is most likely a sloppy mistake, because Wikipedia is sloppy. I would like to think that “fleck” is not a mistake, but instead a nod to Béla’s unique and distinctive musical stylings, because whatever genres Béla Fleck weaves in and out of, he always sounds like himself. Béla always plays “fleck” music.
One of Mr. Fleck’s most remarkable accomplishments is his continued success playing so many different types of music through mastery of a single instrument, the banjo. Yes, you read that correctly. If musicians were asked to make a list of the most versatile instruments known to humankind, I am guessing the banjo would not be found anywhere near the top of the list. I’m guessing the banjo would fall somewhere between “accordion” and “mouth harp.” (Hey mouth harp, at least people have spent time coming up with jokes about accordions and banjos.) Despite the banjo’s perceived limitations, Béla has used the instrument rack up Grammy nominations in more categories (nine) than any other musician to date.
If I traveled back in time to Béla’s birth in 1958 in New York City and informed his parents that Béla would grow up to become a successful musician, I’m guessing the parents might believe me. Béla Anton Leoš Fleck was named after multiple composers after all. If I went on to inform Mom and Dad that there would be a musical award show that would debut next year, and become the biggest American music awards show, and that award show would still be going 63 years later, and their kid would become nominated in more musical categories than anyone who ever lived… well, that’s a bit unlikely. If I were then to add that he would win 15 of these Grammy awards, without ever being a singer? Dubious but still possible. If I were to go on to explain he would win these awards all by playing… the banjo! The banjo? At this point I’m certain I’d be asked to leave the hospital immediately. “Get away from us, can’t you see what you’re doing to the child’s mother?” I can see Dad getting angry as Mom wept uncontrollably, realizing this stranger was no prophet but just another crazy person in New York. And yet, that’s exactly how it happened. Béla Fleck did indeed go on to win all those Grammys. It sounds like a fantasy tale, the plot of a Marvel movie or some other science fiction, but it happened. It’s still happening in fact.
Béla Fleck has always been a kind of outcast of sorts, growing up playing a backwoods instrument in a city that considers itself the most cosmopolitan in the world. Perhaps Fleck’s background encouraged him to seek out other musical misfits, which he has done his entire career. His group the Flecktones includes a percussionist who goes by the name Future Man. Futch’s main instrument is the SynthAxeDrumitar. Bandmate Victor Wooten, Future Man’s brother, though not yet proven to be an alien, is widely regarded as one of the most superhuman electric bass players on planet earth. Another former and current Flecktone is Howard Levy, a phenomenal keyboardist and master of the harmonica. Personally, I have seen Béla share the stage with a wide variety of guests, playing instruments including the violin, tabla, ukulele, even a Tuvan throat singer wielding a doshpuluur. The one thing all these musicians have in common is they are complete musical virtuosos. Béla Fleck sets a high bar for himself and for those he plays with.
Béla has collaborated with a huge number of musicians over the years, from bluegrass legends like Sam Bush and Tony Rice, to jazz and classical musicians like Edgar Meyer and Chick Corea. Béla has said in recent interviews that he was particularly saddened by Corea’s death, knowing that the musical relationship they developed would not be replaceable. One of Béla’s more recent frequent musical collaborators has been his wife Abigail Washburn, a vocalist and banjo player in her own right.
Extreme dedication to musicianship has led Béla down some interesting paths. His own music label at one point suggested that Béla produce an album of classical music played on the banjo, because the label thought classical banjo might be commercially viable. Rare these days that a record label would offer a suggestion to make life more difficult for their star talent, in terms of the actual music-making, but the label figured Béla was up to the challenge, and of course he was. Béla has since gone on to write concertos and perform them with symphony orchestras. In 2006 Béla traveled to Africa to explore the roots of the banjo and to play with world class musicians. A documentary film of the trip entitled “Throw Down Your Heart” is an amazingly educational, entertaining, and emotionally moving travelogue from this trip.
It was difficult for me to decide which piece of music to select for this Song of the Week. I decided to go with a version of one of my favorite Fleck compositions, “New South Africa,” originally released on a live album during Nelson Mandela’s presidency in 1996. The SOTW performance of this tune is a duet with Fleck and his wife Abigail Washburn, out in the woods somewhere in 2014. The duet showcases both players and includes some otherworldly improvisation from Fleck. Like much of Fleck’s music, the piece touches on bluegrass roots but has some very modern twists. The performance also demonstrates an important musical skill, listening. Music is a language; it is a form of communication. There are very few humans on planet earth more adept at musical communication than Béla Fleck.
7.20.22