A seminal moment at Blue Frog

Among other seminal moments that Blue Frog will witness in the months to come, Monday’s gig was one such. Perhaps the first one.

It was sudden billing. Zakir Hussain, the tabla wizard, had got in Bela Flek and Earl Levy for his annual homage concert to his dad. (It would make any dad proud, and I hope my dad can feel the same). Sunday afternoon a SMS announces a flash Bela Fleck concert hosted by Zakir Hussain at Blue Frog on its weekly off day early in the evening at 7 PM.

The musicians had agreed to play gratis at Blue Frog for a small audience. The Club decided to make the entry free and posted the item on Facebook. While Zakir was stuck in the traffic, the crowd was piling up at the club. An hour or so later when the show began, the club was packed to its gills surprising all and sundry at the unexpectedly large crowd. For the first time in it short stint, music lovers had to be asked to wait it out. Few left and others were gradually pulled in.

This is from his website:

"Just in case you aren't familiar with Béla Fleck, there are some who say he's the premiere banjo player in the world. Others claim that Béla 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. If you are familiar with Béla, you know that he just loves to play the banjo, and put it into unique settings."

He’s a legend, alright. Winner of several Grammy’s and having played with legends like Chick Correa, Fleck can truly be called a pioneer of world music. As much at home with bluegrass – he played a lovely bluegrass track– he has also delved into classical, Indian, African, European and Latin American.

This is not his first brush with Indian classical. He has played with pandit Vishwa Monhan Bhatt, Zakir Hussain, and several others. He’s seasoned, savvy, sublime and of course, hugely talented. Zakir Hussain of course is a legend and a wizard. His band of musicians, several young exponents who promise an incredible potential, along with Fleck and bassist Meyer – when they warmed up, there were 13 musicians on the stage – created magic for a relentless two hour session. I was actually awed by Louiz Banks the most. In an impromptu set-up, Louiz stood his own ground in a musical range that bordered pure Indian classical to world music, with élan!

It was Zakir’s show and the maestro ran it with clockwork precision. Fleck and the bassist didn’t miss a beat, both of them showing glimpses of their incredible talent. Yesterday we also felt the potential of the acoustics inside the venue and the discerning nuances of its quality.

What the show did, however, was to make me yearn for the Flecktones. I’m sure many of us just got our appetite whetted for a Flecktones show with Bela. Victor Woutten on base, Jeff Coffin on sax, Edgar Meyer on base and that will perhaps be yet another seminal moment for Blue Frog. {Musicians should particularly get hold of The Music Lesson, a book written by Victor Woutten where he explores the mental and the emotional processes a musician goes to come to terms with the sounds of his music and how to constantly improve upon them. It’s a book written in a style where the musician is in conversation with his own alter ego and is almost cathartic and therapeutic for even those of us who are not musicians}

Famed for a non-stop touring schedule, the Flecktones have reached more than 500,000 audience members yearly from 2001 on. Still releasing albums and touring, the Tones have garnered a strong and faithful following among jazz and new acoustic fans. They have shared the stage with Dave Mathews Band, Sting, Bonnie Raitt and the Grateful Dead, among many others.

Although the first Flecktones albums were created live-in-the-studio, the group went on to experiment with overdubs and guest artists on later albums, with contributions from artists as diverse as Chick Corea, Bruce Hornsby, Branford Marsalis, John Medeski, Amy Grant and Dave Matthews. The Flecktones went on tour with Dave Matthews Band in 1996 and 1997, and Fleck is featured on several tracks on DMB's 1998 album "Before these Crowded Streets."

Collaborating with Fleck on "Perpetual Motion" was his long time friend and colleague Edgar Meyer, a bassist whose virtuosity defies labels and also an acclaimed composer. In the wake of that album's release, Fleck & Meyer came up with the idea of a banjo/bass duo, which they developed and refined during a concert tour of the US. Live recordings from that tour are the basis for their latest Sony Classical recording "Music For Two" which also includes a bonus DVD featuring a documentary film by Sascha Paladino (Fleck's brother) that captures the duo's collaboration and crafting of repertoire while on tour. Béla and Edgar also co-wrote and performed a double concerto for banjo, bass and the Nashville Symphony, which debuted in November 2003.

The recipients of Multiple Grammy Awards going back to 1998, Béla Fleck & the Flecktones picked up the Best Contemporary Jazz Performance, Instrumental Grammy in 2000 for "Outbound", a typically wide-ranging project, with guest artists that include guitarist Adrian Belew and singers Jon Anderson and Shawn Colvin, built around Fleck's concept of "the banjo being weird."

Flecks' total Grammy count is 8 Grammys won, and 20 nominations. He has been nominated in more different categories than anyone in Grammy history.

Whether Fleck and the Flecktones perform at Blue Frog in future remains to be seen, but whats clear is that Monday night raised the bar at Blue Frog. The musicians who perform on that stage will know that no less than Zakir Hussain and his troupe along with Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer hve also performed on that stage. Once the news spreads, I suspect it’ll be easier for Blue Frog to rope in other artsistes of similar stature to come play at Blue Frog.

That’s why I called it a seminal moment in the Blue Frog chapter. The kid’s growing up, and growing up fast!