Bela Fleck & The Flecktones - Left of Cool (1998)

"Almost 12" won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. "Big Country" was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
Do yourself a favor and forget about the question, "What is this music?" Your enjoyment of this recording will only further increase upon realizing that these freak-o's don't necessarily know quite what it is that they're playing, either. All the better--the lack of self-consciousness is what makes this concoction feel natural. For the record, however, the identifiable ingredients include funk, pop, folk, jazz and, of course, Fleck's masterful, multi-colored banjo-playing. Tight arrangements meet tastefully with whim throughout.
LEFT OF COOL opens with the frantic funk-out entitled, "Throwdown At The Hoedown," an instrumental replete with foreboding melodies and wildly fast bursts of banjo- and bass-playing (indeed, Van Halen-style fretboard tapping has arrived on the banjo). Other tunes, such as the smooth-sailing "Step Quiet," offer vocal affirmations pleasing to the weary ear. A playful sense of exchange often leaps up between bass-samurai Wooten and the various horns assembled, weaving in and out of melodic conversations and inspired octave passages with glee. And, present as always, is Future Man playing his infamous synthaxe drumitar--reason enough to have a go at this odd little sonic gathering.

Bela Fleck & The Flecktones: Bela Fleck (gut-string guitar, guitar, acoustic & electric banjos, nylon-string & gut-string banjos, sitar banjo, mandolin, keyboards, Theremin); Future Man (vocals, percussion, synthaxe drumitar, samples); Jeff Coffin (soprano, tenor & baritone saxophones, saxello, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet); Victor Lemonte Wooten (fiddle, cello, acoustic, electric & fretless basses).