Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, Outbound - 60m 3s

Tracks & Durations

1. Intro	0:41
2. Hoedown	4:54
3. A Moment So Close	4:47
4. Zona Mona	5:01
5. Hall of Mirrors	4:53
6. Earth Jam	5:55
7. Something She Said	3:36
8. Ovombo summit	0:40
9. Aimum	5:50
10. Prelude	0:41
11. Lover's Leap	4:16
12. Outbound	4:52
13. Scratch & Sniff	5:00
14. Shuba Yatra	4:42
15. That Old Thing	3:22
16. Reprise	0:44

Note: The information about this album is acquired from the publicly available resources and we are not responsible for their accuracy.

Review

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones emit joy, exuberance, and stylistic outreach routinely when playing live. That reach opens their Outbound with "Hoedown," which might just as well be titled "Barn Dances of the Gods," connecting as it does the Appalachian folk lineage to the works of Aaron Copland and Oliver Nelson.

On their first recording for Columbia, this charismatic touring band is making a serious move for the kind of commercial breakthrough (à la The Pat Metheny Group or Heavy Weather) that their talent and ambition should long ago have cemented. Thus, when Shawn Colvin's lilting soprano answers "Futureman" Roy Wooten's raplike intro on the bridge to "A Moment So Close," followed by exotic textures and metric changes right out of a South Indian raga, the effect is not unlike the Dave Matthews Band's sophisticated amalgam of pop and jazz-fusion. Indeed, Futureman's vocals key several excellent tracks, as Outbound finds these virtuoso populists cruising in the passing lane of popular acceptance with airs of Near Eastern, North African, and South Indian folk music abounding (and commingling with Northern European elements on "Shuba Yatra").

Guest artists Adrian Belew on guitar, Andy Narell on steel drums, and John Medeski on organ help flesh out several fine arrangements. Bluesy undercurrents, coy humor, and echoes of rustic and urban Americana abound on the title tune, "Lover's Leap," "Scratch and Sniff," and "That Old Thing." Even when a more jammy mood predominates (as on "Earth Jam," where one of Fleck's electric lines suggests both the tone and phrasing of a Jerry Garcia solo), the virtuoso imagination of banjo master Fleck and bass guitar innovator Victor Wooten are focused entirely at the service of the arrangements. A giant leap forward for the Flecktones and their fans. --Chip Stern

Please note: we do not provide any Béla Fleck & The Flecktones music downloads, have no any mp3 music including music samples and music ringtones, and can not assist you where to buy music CDs and used CDs. You can search for it on music sites all over the Internet or visit one of our advertisers. We appreciate any ideas and comments about this experimental music database.