Bela Fleck Outbound CD

OUTBOUND won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. "Zona Mona" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

With OUTBOUND, Bela Fleck and his Flecktones blend their eclectic mix of high-energy bluegrass and jazz with instrumentalists and vocalists from a wide range of styles. Among these are B3 master John Medeski, eclectic guitarist Adrian Belew, and pop vocalists Shawn Colvin and Yes' Jon Anderson. As you may expect, this makes for some of the most unique aural adventures to come down the pike in a long while.

With a nod to Oliver Nelson's BLUES & THE ABSTRACT TRUTH arrangement, Fleck offers a contemporary take on Aaron Copland's "Hoedown." He then launches into the intriguing "A Moment So Close," which mixes urban funk, Middle Eastern flavors, and contemporary pop vocals. If that's not enough to strip your gears, Adrian Belew's space-age guitar textures and Shawn Colvin's wordless vocal introduction into the otherwise rolling groove of "Hall of Mirrors" are likely to make you sit up and take immediate notice. More evidence of Fleck's stylistic wizardry is the exciting "Ainum," a piece that, while at first appearing as merely a pop vocal, incorporates everything from bluegrass and jazz to Indian drumming and funk. Other mesmerizing musical escapades include the lilting "Lover's Leap," the fusion-esque title track, and the impenetrable "Scratch & Sniff."

Bela Fleck & The Flecktones: Bela Fleck (synthesizer, National & paradise guitars, banjo, electric sitar); Future Man (vocals, drums, zendrum, synth-axe drumitar, cajon, cymbals, tambourine, samples); Jeff Coffin (soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, alto flute, clarinet); Victor Lemonte Wooten (4-string, 5-string fretless & tenor basses).

Love Sponge String Quartet: David Davidson, David Angell (violin); Kristin Wilkinson (viola); John Catchings (cello).

Engineers include: Richard Battaglia, Robert Battaglia, Bela Fleck.

Personnel: Béla Fleck (guitar, National guitar, banjo, electric sitar); Jon Anderson, Shawn Colvin (vocals); Adrian Belew (electric guitar); David Davidson , David Angell (violin); John Catchings (cello); Jeff Coffin (alto flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Paul McCandless (pennywhistle, oboe, English horn, soprano saxophone); Paul Hanson (bassoon, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); John Medeski (organ); Future Man (synthesizer, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, tom tom, sampler); Edgar Meyer (acoustic bass); Andy Narell (steel pan); Sandip Burman (tabla).

Recording information: Avalon Digital Studio, San Luis Obispo, CA (1999); Blue World Music, Dripping Springs, TX (1999); Flecktone World Headquarters (1999); Good And Evil Studio, Brooklyn, NY (1999); KOTO Radio Station (1999); StudioBelew, Mount Juliet, TN (1999).

Guest:Shawn Colvin,Edgar Meyer Jon Anderson,Paul Hanson,Ondar

Additional personnel: Rita Sahai, Jon Anderson, Shawn Colvin, Ondar (vocals); Paul Hanson (soprano & tenor saxophone, bassoon); Paul McCandless (soprano saxophone, oboe, English horn, penny whistle); Mark Feldman (violin); John Medeski (Hammond B-3 organ); Adrian Belew (electric guitar); Edgar Meyer (acoustic bass); Sandip Burman (tablas); Andy Narell (steel pans).Entertainment Weekly (7/28/00, p.183) - "...Favoring strings and horns, the king of bluegrass-bop fuses cultures on this ambitious album....Wizardry abounds..." - Rating: B+
JazzTimes (11/00, pp.66-7) - "...An interesting and rewarding trip....capturing swamp tones, classical romance, electric rock, bebop and everything in-between....fascinating..."