Throw Down Your Heart
Béla Fleck (born July 10, 1958 in New York City, New York) is an American … Read Full Bio ↴Béla Fleck (born July 10, 1958 in New York City, New York) is an American virtuoso banjo player. He is most well known for his work with the band Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, which he has described as "a mixture of acoustic and electronic music with a lot of roots in folk and bluegrass as well as funk and jazz."
Fleck, who is named after famous Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, was drawn to the banjo when he first heard Earl Scruggs play the theme song for the television show Beverly Hillbillies. He received his first banjo at age fifteen from his grandfather (1973). Later, Fleck would enroll in New York City's High School of Music and Art where he studied French horn. Almost immediately after high school, Fleck traveled to Boston to play with Jack Tottle and Mark Schatz in Tasty Licks. It is with Tasty Licks that Fleck played on his first major album. During this period, Fleck released his first solo album (1979) "Crossing the Tracks". It was Fleck's first foray into progressive bluegrass composition.
Fleck would play on the streets of Boston with bassist Mark Schatz until the two formed Spectrum: the Band in 1981. Fleck toured with Spectrum until 1981. That year, Fleck was asked by Sam Bush and company to join New Grass Revival. Fleck performed with New Grass Revival for nine years. During this time, Fleck recorded another solo album, "Drive." It was nominated for a Grammy Award in the then first-time category of Best Bluegrass Album (1988).
After a 1988 phone call with bassist Victor Wooten, Fleck and Wooten formed Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, rounded out with harmonica player Howard Levy and Wooten's percussionist brother Roy "Future Man" Wooten, who plays synthesizer-based percussion. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin joined the group with the album "Left of Cool".
With the Flecktones, Fleck has been nominated for and won several Grammy awards. Fleck has shared Grammy wins with Asleep at the Wheel, Alison Brown, and Edgar Meyer. He has been nominated in more categories than any other musician, namely country, pop, jazz, bluegrass, classical, folk, and spoken word, as well as composition and arranging.
Fleck, who is named after famous Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, was drawn to the banjo when he first heard Earl Scruggs play the theme song for the television show Beverly Hillbillies. He received his first banjo at age fifteen from his grandfather (1973). Later, Fleck would enroll in New York City's High School of Music and Art where he studied French horn. Almost immediately after high school, Fleck traveled to Boston to play with Jack Tottle and Mark Schatz in Tasty Licks. It is with Tasty Licks that Fleck played on his first major album. During this period, Fleck released his first solo album (1979) "Crossing the Tracks". It was Fleck's first foray into progressive bluegrass composition.
Fleck would play on the streets of Boston with bassist Mark Schatz until the two formed Spectrum: the Band in 1981. Fleck toured with Spectrum until 1981. That year, Fleck was asked by Sam Bush and company to join New Grass Revival. Fleck performed with New Grass Revival for nine years. During this time, Fleck recorded another solo album, "Drive." It was nominated for a Grammy Award in the then first-time category of Best Bluegrass Album (1988).
After a 1988 phone call with bassist Victor Wooten, Fleck and Wooten formed Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, rounded out with harmonica player Howard Levy and Wooten's percussionist brother Roy "Future Man" Wooten, who plays synthesizer-based percussion. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin joined the group with the album "Left of Cool".
With the Flecktones, Fleck has been nominated for and won several Grammy awards. Fleck has shared Grammy wins with Asleep at the Wheel, Alison Brown, and Edgar Meyer. He has been nominated in more categories than any other musician, namely country, pop, jazz, bluegrass, classical, folk, and spoken word, as well as composition and arranging.
Throw Down Your Heart
Béla Fleck Lyrics
Instrumental
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Richard Lara
The message of truth is not what a majority white hegemony wants to have become known...
They want to write the history showing how superior and benevolent the anglo saxon is to any other non-anglo people.
Never mind the truth, which is why the push against any race theory enlightenment is embraced.
Truth: majority of white people are sick and tired of the racism behind the greatness of trump's america.
Bela fleck added another straw to the back of the trumpian american camel, not to mention the Creator who is not partisan.
J Cole
mind blown. Bela never ceases to amaze me, and Ruth Akello brought tears. this is so badly needed everywhere right now. even just to watch it.
Jennifer Hill
Watched at your suggestion, and will watch again. What a gentle and vibrant spirit to all of this. A peacefulness that I haven't felt in a very long time.
Kaotiqua
Bela's so down to earth- so humble. He never tries to overshadow the music of the different people, but as he said, to find his place in it. Amazing player, and amazing person. Beautiful from beginning to end.
Kaotiqua
@NMD Uh huhn. MAGICALLY, you're the only one who can "see da troof". Bela and Abigail have millions of fans. Newsflash, genius: If you're the only one who can see it, it might well be all in your head. So. Point to credible proof, or f' right off back under your hate-rock.
NMD
@Kaotiqua if you didn't see it then you can't call it nonsense. you simply don't know.
Kaotiqua
@NMD Again, you're talking nonsense. They've been performing together for years, and respect what each of them bring to the table musically. I have no idea what incident you're talking about, which leads me to suspect that you took something you saw or heard out of context. They're both masters of very distinct and different styles, and they absolutely rib each other about which style is better, but there's no malice or disrespect in it at all. Bela's often said that he tried to learn her style, and that it was beyond him. If you want to convince me that there was ever anything more condescending or rude than acknowledged masters teasing one another, you're going to have to show me even one example of that behavior. I'm not calling you a liar. It seems clear you think you saw the kind of negative behavior you're describing, but I've watched them together and apart a lot, and I'm quite certain you're very much mistaken.
NMD
@Kaotiqua no. I just listened to his remarks, and hers. he was telling her how to play and she put up with it. he made it clear his classical background was, in his opinion, of greater value than her grass roots.
Kaotiqua
I've been watching them play together for years. He's playful, and she gets it. All this tells me is that you, unlike Abigail, entirely lack a sense of humor.
Ned Mononymous
This has got to be the most amazing documentary I've ever seen on the universality of music across all people and cultures. Love of music is something shared by almost all humans and I think the more we recognize that the vast majority of us have far more in common than not, the easier we will find it to empathize with each other and live as neighbors. We're going to have to realize sooner than later that we are a single species sharing a single planet. Any instincts towards tribalism that are innate in humans might have been advantageous when we were hunter-gatherers, but they merely hinder us in our modern world.
Ruthieworldtravels
Isn't it though?