Béla Fleck & Edgar Meyer — Music For Two (2004) |
Béla Fleck & Edgar Meyer — Music For Two
Location: New York
Album release: April 27, 2004
Recorded: October 2001 to September 2003
Record Label: Sony Classical
Duration: 71:26
Tracks:
01 - Bug Tussle (Béla Fleck) 4:56
02 - Invention No. 10 BWV 796 (J.S.Bach) 0:53
03 - Pile-up (Fleck, Meyer) 6:55
04 - Prelude No. 24 BWV 869 From The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (J.S.Bach) 3:00
05 - Solar (Miles Davis) 3:59
06 - Blue Spruce (Fleck) 8:46
07 - Canon (Meyer) 4:27
08 - The One I Left Behind (Fleck) 5:01
09 - Menuett I-II From Partia No.1 BWV 825 (J.S.Bach) 2:11
10 - Prelude No.2 BWV 847 From The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (J.S.Bach) 1:40
11 - Palmyra (Fleck, Meyer) 8:17
12 - The Lake Effect (Fleck) 3:16
13 - Largo From Sonata (Henry Eccles) 3:11
14 - Allegro Vivace From Sonata (Henry Eccles) 1:14
15 - Wrong Number (Fleck, Meyer) 3:00
16 - Woolly Mammoth (Fleck, Meyer) 7:45
17 - Wishful Thinking (Meyer) 2:56
Personnel:
• Béla Fleck - guitar, banjo
• Edgar Meyer - piano, double bass
CREDITS:
• Christopher Austopchuk Art Direction
• Adam Ayan Mastering
• Johann Sebastian Bach Composer
• Bert Battaglia Engineer
• Richard Battaglia Engineer
• Mia Bongiovanni A&R Assistance
• Miles Davis Composer
• Joseph Digerness Engineer
• Henry Eccles Composer
• Béla Fleck Arranger, Banjo, Composer, Editing, Guitar, Liner Notes, Mixing, Producer
• Bob Kranes Product Manager
• Laura Kszan Editorial Production
• Edgar Meyer Arranger, Composer, Double Bass, Editing, Liner Notes, Mixing, Piano, Producer
• Christopher Ottaunick Photography
• Sascha Paladino Director, Producer
• Chip Simons Photography
• Dave Sinko Engineer
© Photo credit: Jim Herrington
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
≥ On Music for Two, banjo wizard Béla Fleck and stand-up bass maestro Edgar Meyer effortlessly sail through a challenging program that includes compositions by Bach, a sonata by Henry Eccles, a Miles Davis tune, and a number of self-composed finger twisters. The amazing thing about this varied selection is not its eclecticism--which is only to be expected with these two--but that it all blends together so seamlessly. Fleck's jazz-tinged compositions (like "The Lake Effect") and Meyer's bluegrass-inspired tunes (like "Wishful Thinking") sit so comfortably next to Bach's baroque jewels and Davis's cool jazz that it makes you question the entire of concept of musical classification. (In fact, the Bach preludes, inventions, and partitas translate so well to the banjo/bass arrangements, you have to wonder if old JSB might not have had a bit of bluegrass in his soul.) Music for Two was recorded live at a series of 2001 concerts, where Fleck and Meyer proved conclusively that the banjo and the bass were capable of remarkable subtlety and not just twang and boom. -- Michael John Simmons
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Béla Fleck
≥ Banjoist, composer, bandleader.
≥ Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players.
Birth name: Béla Anton Leoš Fleck
Born: July 10, 1958, New York City, New York, U.S.
Instruments: Banjo, guitar, dobro, mandolin, theremin, piano
Notable instruments:
≥ Deering Crossfire electric banjo with custom pickups and synthesizer pickup
Personal life:
≥ In August 2007 at Paladino's wedding, Fleck brought Abigail Washburn as his "girlfriend," both playing in a scratch band composed of wedding party members. In May 2009, the Bluegrass Intelligencer satirized the upcoming "strategic marriage" of Washburn and Fleck, joking that the couple promises to have a "male heir" who will be the "Holy Banjo Emperor". In February 2010, The Aspen Times reported that Washburn had become Fleck's wife in the previous year. In a July 2010 interview, Washburn said she first met her husband in Nashville at a square dance—she was dancing and he was playing.
Grammy awards:
1995
≥ Best Country Instrumental Performance, Hightower by Asleep at the Wheel with Béla Fleck and Johnny Gimble
1996
≥ Best Pop Instrumental Performance, The Sinister Minister by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones (with Sam Bush & Paul McCandless)
1998
≥ Best Instrumental Composition, Almost 12 by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
2000
≥ Best Contemporary Jazz Album, Outbound by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
≥ Best Country Instrumental Performance, Leaving Cottondale by Alison Brown and Béla Fleck
2001
≥ Best Instrumental Arrangement, Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum from Children's Corner Suite (Debussy) by Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer
≥ Best Classical Crossover Album, Perpetual Motion by Béla Fleck with Edgar Meyer, Joshua Bell, and others
2006
≥ Best Contemporary Jazz Album, The Hidden Land by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
2009
≥ Best Pop Instrumental Album, Jingle All The Way by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
2010
≥ Best Pop Instrumental Performance, Throw Down Your Heart by Béla Fleck
≥ Best Contemporary World Music Album, Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3 by Béla Fleck
2011
≥ Best Contemporary World Music Album, Throw Down Your Heart, Africa Sessions Part 2: Unreleased Track by Béla Fleck
2012
≥ Best Instrumental Composition, Life in Eleven by Béla Fleck and Howard Levy
Website: http://www.belafleck.com/
Flecktones: http://www.flecktones.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/belafleckbanjo
Edgar Meyer
≥ Double Bassist and Composer
Born: November 24, 1960
Origin: Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.
Instruments: Double bass/Piano/Guitar/Banjo/Violin/Mandolin/Dobro
≥ Meyer is Adjunct Associate Professor of Double Bass at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music, as well as at the Curtis Institute.
Website: http://edgarmeyer.com/ / MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/edgarmeyerdb#!
Review by Chris Nickson (Editor rating: ****)
≥ Banjo player supreme Béla Fleck and bassist Edgar Meyer make for a fascinating and daring duo, and they appear to be at their best live, as this esoteric disc shows. While there are plenty of original compositions from both pens, they also tackle several pieces by Bach, a wonderful Henry Eccles sonata, and some Miles Davis -- gadding about all over the shop. It works primarily because they put no restrictions on the possibilities of the instruments, but sheer skill certainly helps, from the wicked alacrity of "Bug Tussle" to the near competition of "Woolly Mamouth." There's even a delicious sense of humor, as "Wrong Number" is interrupted by what seems to be an errant cell phone -- but which turns out to be a sample that returns and returns to act like a punctuation in the piece. Meyer takes to the piano for part of "Palmyra," proving surprisingly adept, while Fleck shows his chops to full effect on "The One I Left Behind." For this album he depends more on virtuosity than any electric trickery, and he's good enough to pull it off with no problem, as on "The Lake Effect." Meyer is more than a foil, though; he looms large throughout, whether plucking or bowing the bass. However you want to categorize this disc, it's music of the highest order.
Béla Fleck & Edgar Meyer — Music For Two (2004) |