Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda & Antonia Sánchez Trio

Over the past half-century, Béla Fleck has exploded the parameters of the banjo, taking his staggering musicality to inspired blends of bluegrass, fusion, folk, jazz, classical, global music and more. In the process he’s won 19 Grammy Awards and rightfully earned a reputation as one of our most brilliant instrumentalists.

Now he's embarked on a new phase of his startling career, forming an all-star trio with harpist Edmar Castañeda and drummer Antonio Sánchez. Together they create music that is nothing less than fearless -- rich with strong melodies, gorgeous harmony and grooves that audiences find irresistible. 

If you're familiar with Fleck, you know he's a genre-blurring virtuoso who's done more to expand the possibilities of the banjo than any other player in the instrument’s history. To wit: last year, he released an inspired reimagining of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Fleck has also been the banjo’s most thoughtful advocate and ambassador, and his acclaimed 2008 documentary Throw Down Your Heart and its accompanying soundtrack celebrated the instrument’s unsung African roots. Still, many fans would argue that Fleck’s greatest achievement is the Flecktones, another band of brilliant improvising musicians with an unusual format.

This new trio, Fleck says, “kind of reminds me of the early days of the Flecktones, when audiences would go, ‘How is this supposed to work?’” For both groups, it turns out, the answer is: extraordinarily well!

It helps that Castañeda and Sánchez are two of the most gifted musicians of their generation. Castañeda, the harpist, hails from Bogotá, Colombia, and has led his own bands in addition to sharing projects with such masters as Hiromi, Paquito D’Rivera, Grégoire Maret, Wynton Marsalis, and Sting. 

Five-time Grammy-winner Sánchez grew up in Mexico City and built a reputation as one of the great jazz drummers through his work with guitarist Pat Metheny. He’s also collaborated with Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker and other giants. His Golden Globe-nominated drum-set score for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2014 film Birdman earned him renown far outside the jazz world.