I've rarely heard a banjo sound so enticing.  The base is great. I'm just trying to get my head around the Kenny G style sax.

Béla Fleck lives 3 Doors Down from my parents!

Its a heavy burden to lay at the feet of one mediocre sax player, but I agree about the perception.  Let's blame the popularization of "light, adult-oriented" anything.  That was deliberate and fits with the other evils perpetrated by the music industry.  Ole Kenny was just trying to make a living doing what he likes.  (and no, I don't like that pap one bit, but I feel bad for the guy).

 aeknust wrote: 

mezzanine wrote: Agreed! Vic always lays it down... I've always thought this group should be called Victor Wooten and the Wootones.

Gosh, there sure are a lot of haters out there... I think the Flecktones are an amazing example of musical fusion. Each member of the group is a true virtuoso... including Jeff Coffin on the sax. It's just too bad that Kenny-G came along and gave the soprano sax (and jazz for that matter) a bad name.

weevilkinevil wrote: this album is from 2003, fwiw (nor is it bad, imo)

I've never heard a banjo in Muzak before

Can we please leave the bad 80's saxophone-laden music where we found it?

Zeito wrote:

Holy hell that sax sucks.

xkolibuul wrote: Could agree with you more, I love his banjo but that sax is just ... distracting. It is like Weather Channel Jazz.

I mean, really, how can Bela live with himself when that sax kicks in? Its like putting Kraft parmesan on a good bolognese.

I also wondered about the likeness to Nickel Creek picking: " ends with two similarly-named pieces which both feature the three principal members of Nickel Creek as guests, Off the Top (The Gravity Wheel), and Off the Top (Line Dance)" from https://georgegraham.com/reviews/bela2003.html. Seperately, I love the Flecktones, but the sax always makes me cringe - it turns bluegrass into smooth jazz...

Posted 17 years ago by Brugger10    [ Reply ]

skdenfeld wrote: Yep.

mojoman wrote: Here's the funniest part - if you listen to RP on WinAmp, as I do, check out the 'Song Title' box in the player while this is playing... "Bla Fleck - Gravity Wheel"

healyf52 wrote: Clever mechanical contraption? You mean like the one in the lobby of the Port Authority Building? I love that thing. I could watch it for hours. ...Maybe that's why I like this.

Does anybody know if this was a collaboration with Nickel Creek? I hear the guitar, mandolin and fiddle in there, and it sounds like their style alongside Bela and the rest of the Flecktones.

skdenfeld wrote: Agreed! Just give me the banjo and this would be decent. Way too much corn. Elevator music. 4.

Posted 17 years ago by auburntigerrich    [ Reply ]

Vic lays it down in this one!

skdenfeld wrote: Yep. I have my volume up pretty loud and I could hear someone counting time over the guitar in the beginning. . . :LOL:

While structurally and compositionally impressive, this song doesn't really go anwhere or do anthing for me. It's like watching a clever mechanical contraption go round in circles..

Liked it right up to where the sax comes in. Corny after that.

I really enjoy Bela's banjo, and the Flecktones in general (esp Wooton's Synth-Axe Drummitar) but this has a bit too much sax to measure up to other pieces they've done. So, it gets just a 5 from me, IMHO.

Thought this was Chris Thile or Nickel Creek until the sax came in. Bleh!

You know, I was just going to say that this was cool until it got really muzak when the sax came in, but PG beat me to it. And was more clever in the process. PG, do you give snark lessons? I'd totally sign on for some.

I liked it until it went all "smooth jazz" - meh. Just the banjo is fine.

physicsgenius wrote: got to admit that's pretty clever.

Dueling banjo and saxaphone? I HATE this. It sucks. Make it stop.

Once again, the banjo is interesting while the sax (if that's what it is) sounds like something you'd hear at the dentist's office, if the dentist's office were in a grocery store embedded inside an elevator.

Hob wrote: Sure is interesting.. the bass is played by Victor Wooten!!!.. one of the best bass players of all times. I speccialy recommend you the disc Ying&Yang of Victor Wooten. Bela Fleck deserves a 11!... and Wooten a 12!

lizardman_tcs wrote: Only Two?

I like it... elegant, pretty, and short. I like that you can dip into the complexity if you want (and be thoroughly impressed) or simply listen to the song. Hehe, certain types of "challenging" (technically difficult?) music really repulse people... I guess its not surprising. Many other forms of art lose me when they get too rarified... so I shouldn't be surprised it happens in music too. For me though, the trick is that anything that sounds good is good. If its dangerously hard too, thats like added spice.

stickittotheman wrote: It was whatever until the sax came in. 2

it was working well for me until the sax came in. 4

I've always been a Fleck fan...nice technique and always a different "take" on songs. Very nice, IMHO.

nice bass playing...

By the by - when I saw Bela in concert doing this piece, he pointed out it was an experimental piece that was done in an odd time - something like 15/16ths time or something weird. Just try to tap it out - it doesn't come together normally :) And for the idjit that said "Bela is just a showoff, not a pioneer", bite me, boyo. Bela brought jazz banjo to the forefront. He's a master musician that may not appeal to your definition of waht Jazz is supposed to be like, but calling him a talentless showoff does him and his band a disservice. Futureman has completely redefined the concept of electric percussion by designing his own custom instrument and building it from scratch. His brother Vic Wooten is acknowledged as one of the FINEST bass players on the planet, and I've heard nothing to discount that assertion. Jeff Coffin (Sax and clarinet) is an absolute master of his form, and blends perfectly with the band and the styles. Go see them, meet them, talk with them, shake their hands. Fleck is a modest, quiet, talented man. Have you met him?

a) banjo does not automatically mean bluegrass b) true, the sax seems kind of out of place here, c) a very nice set: Dulce Pontes, Bela Fleck, Muddy Waters... very much appreciated.

Trustocity wrote: No but it does = "Beck Fella" so it should it be right up your alley, Guero.

Bela + Fleck = Bleech

trekhead wrote: Odd. I picked up Chris Thile's disc and see Bela plays on there.

Strange that they had the Weather Channel on in the background while recording this. And that Béla would be playing along with it.

Sobient wrote: This is the best comment of them all...

I hear a swatch of NICKEL CREEK in there. Do-able. 6.

Ok , this is the perfect time to turn off the music and walk for lunch...Thanks to Bela's egotistical misconceptions of music...yikes!

ObsidianInfinity wrote: Kinda summarizes my view. There are some things that just don't go together (brussels sprouts with fudge anyone?), and bluegrass with jazzy sax are two of them. I give Bela a 7 for talent and creativity, though.

Okay, you know what? This bites. Even good musicians can have bad taste in music. mrkuryakin wrote:

ObsidianInfinity wrote: dito ... and not to forget ... it really sounds a bit like all these porn tunes (which i never watched, never, really :D )

I liked it A LOT until the sax came in...then it got a 7.

The cheesy horns/winds ruin it for me.

Boy did I want to hear The Waifs start sing during the intro to this. Then it just kinda went all wrong. Lite Jazz something or other. Has a great beginning though.

lizardman_tcs wrote: I like it. :) The bass guitar is especially interesting, although I find the sax a little to 'slurred'... I Gave it an 8.

Hob wrote: I can just imagine that the 2 are trying out various positions and fetishes while engaging in a lively discussion of the ethics of pornography. But seriously, about the song itself. This actually happens to be one of the first songs I remember hearing when I was introduced to this station. Loved it then, loved it now.

ralpki wrote: Ecletic intelligent porn? ;)

masterhead wrote: I suggest you listen to to Bela's "Music for Two" CD....after listening to that, lemme know if you still think he's only a "show-off" guy.

sans wrote: How dare you compare Miles to this guy....Miles was a pioneer, Bela is a show off guy, that is all...Music is very mediocre even with Marsalis on Sax, that is pathetic

This is fabulous! Thanks RP!

:propeller.gif:

Sobient wrote: EXACTLY! It sounds like soap-opera-sex music, especially the saxophone bits.

mrkuryakin wrote:

Sobient wrote: What kind of porn are you watching?

could be a porn-tune :O

Sounds like a theme tune for an LA Law special were they took a case on for Jed Clampett. Its just nasty.

MrSpaz wrote: not to nitpick but it's Branford Marsalis on sax

I dunno, I'm generally pretty easygoing with music, but in a lot of places this just sounds like two people playing totally different songs on different instruments. I mean, that can be made to work, but it doesn't here. Kenny G does not belong anywhere near Uncle Sawtooth's Bluegrass Jug Band.

These guys are great... but I'm not a big fan of the "Synthaxe Drumitar". Real drums & percussion sound much better than MIDI, IMO.

hcaudill wrote: I said before and i said again, he is not innovative, he is trying to create this soft friendly sounds, and finally always trying to show off his skills..stop playing it...

Ok, Béla Fleck is great. But this is a bit much, don't you think?

Patti wrote: Hey, my 9 and 12 year old kids love this sort of stuff, too. Get 'em started early. Young kids recognize good stuff. It's when you start growing up that you start making bad decisions .

sans wrote: My brother was backstage for that Telluride show - and said the same thing!

Rapidly becoming one of my all time favorite bands. I think Victor Wooten is probably the best that's ever been. I'm starting to think he's better than Jaco was at his prime.

The Miles Davis of our time. I've seen Bela probably more than any other artist/band save GD and am always in awe. Take an instrument and turn its capabilities inside out, take a genre and turn it upside down. One of my best musical moments was the Flecktones 2002 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Saturday evening show... perfect.

ndanger666 wrote: A plectrum for banjos? ;-)

Asking the musical question.......... What the heck is a flecktone?

Wow!

Businessgypsy wrote: Make mine a double, please.

Please sir, could I have another?

Just bought this CD (from Amazon, Bill) and have listened to it once. First time, I'm thinking...this is good! Gotta listen to it again! pbm 8^) PS: my 9yr old daughter likes it too! 8O But then again, she has very ecelectic taste in music!