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Bela Fleck

Béla Fleck goes back to bluegrass, his first musical love

Béla Fleck Alan Messer/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Alan Messer/Courtesy of the artist

World Cafe

Béla Fleck goes back to bluegrass, his first musical love

XPN

For the first time in over two decades, Fleck has returned to the genre with My Bluegrass Heart, an ambitious double album.

Bela Fleck on World Cafe

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Music Interviews

Banjo Player Béla Fleck Returns To His Bluegrass Roots On A New Album

Fresh Air

Perhaps the most famous banjo player in the world, Fleck dedicates his new album, My Bluegrass Heart, to his late musical heroes, Tony Rice and Chick Corea.

Banjo Player Béla Fleck Returns To His Bluegrass Roots On A New Album

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Hear Béla Fleck And Edmar Castañeda's Stunning Collaboration In A Cathedral

Béla Fleck and Edmar Castañeda perform at St. John's Cathedral in Knoxville, Tenn., as part of the 2019 Big Ears Festival. NPR hide caption

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NPR

Jazz Night In America

Hear Béla Fleck And Edmar Castañeda's Stunning Collaboration In A Cathedral

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

Béla Fleck, the world's preeminent banjo player, and Edmar Castañeda, a peerless master of the Andean harp, perform as a duo for the first time at the Big Ears Festival in March 2019.

Hear Béla Fleck And Edmar Castañeda's Stunning Collaboration In A Cathedral

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Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn On Mountain Stage

Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage/West Virginia Public Broadcasting hide caption

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Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Mountain Stage

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn On Mountain Stage

West Virginia Public Broadcasting

On Aug. 4, 2019, the power couple made their fourth appearance together on Mountain Stage performing songs off their new Rounder Records release, Echo In the Valley.

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn On Mountain Stage

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The GroundUP Music Festival Brings Even More Heat to Miami
Stella K. /WBGO

Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

The GroundUP Music Festival Brings Even More Heat to Miami

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

GroundUP is unlike any other musical event. Lines blur between artist and fan, and spill onto Miami Beach. Hear a jazz sampler from the 2018 line-up.

The GroundUP Music Festival Brings Even More Heat to Miami

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Bela Fleck And Abigail Washburn On World Cafe

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn Jim McGuire/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jim McGuire/Courtesy of the artist

World Cafe

Bela Fleck And Abigail Washburn On World Cafe

XPN

Two styles of banjo not normally heard together are fused in this live session of songs from their new album, Echo In The Valley.

Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn On World Cafe

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Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn On Mountain Stage

Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn perform bluegrass and Mandarin folk music for Mountain Stage. Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage hide caption

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Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage

Mountain Stage

Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn On Mountain Stage

The First Family of the Banjo performs bluegrass and Mandarin folk music live in Charleston, W.Va.

Mountain Stage

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Chick Corea And Béla Fleck On The Joys (And Challenges) Of Collaborating

Chick Corea and Bela Fleck's new album, Two, is out now. C. TAYLOR CROTHERS/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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C. TAYLOR CROTHERS/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Chick Corea And Béla Fleck On The Joys (And Challenges) Of Collaborating

The master jazz pianist and renowned banjo player know they make an unlikely duo — but they embrace the unexpected on their new live album, Two.

Chick Corea And Béla Fleck On The Joys (And Challenges) Of Collaborating

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Béla Fleck And Abigail Washburn On Mountain Stage

Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn. Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage hide caption

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Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage

Mountain Stage

Béla Fleck And Abigail Washburn On Mountain Stage

Hear a performance from the banjo-playing husband and wife, who've finally made an album together.

Béla Fleck And Abigail Washburn On Mountain Stage

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Art As Conversation

Nels Cline and Julian Lage's new collaborative album is called Room. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Music

Art As Conversation

NPR's Melissa Block and music critic Tom Moon discuss the thrill of intimacy on three new albums by duos.

Art As Conversation: Three New Collaborative Albums

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First Listen: Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, 'Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn'

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn's new self-titled album comes out Oct. 7. Jim McGuire/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jim McGuire/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen

First Listen: Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, 'Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn'

The married couple's first album together as a duo is notable for its understated, welcoming calm. Across 11 short, carefully arranged slivers of Americana, their two banjos join in warm conversation.

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album is released.
Monsters Of Banjo

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn's new self-titled album, their first as a duo, is out Oct. 7. Jim McGuire/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jim McGuire/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Monsters Of Banjo

Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, banjo superstars and a couple of 10 years, speak with NPR's Arun Rath about why they waited so long to make their first album together.

Béla Fleck And Abigail Washburn On Teaming Up, Finally

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JazzSet Signs Off

"It was part of a beautiful, long story," Dee Dee Bridgewater says of hosting JazzSet. "It has been a highlight of my career." Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater

JazzSet Signs Off

From outdoor festivals to concert halls in major cities, JazzSet was there. Hear an intimate, bittersweet farewell, with highlights that span the NPR jazz program's 23-year run.

The JazzSet Finale

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Banjos, Bartók And La Belle Époque: New Classical Albums

Caleb Burhans debut album as a composer is called Evensong. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Deceptive Cadence

Banjos, Bartók And La Belle Époque: New Classical Albums

From a new concerto by Béla Fleck to established concertos by Béla Bartok, NPR Music's Tom Huizenga and host Jacki Lyden spin a wide variety of new classical recordings.

Banjos, Bartók And La Belle Époque: New Classical Albums

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Bela Fleck On Piano Jazz

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Karl Walter/Getty Images

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz

Bela Fleck On Piano Jazz

Fleck joins host Marian McPartland and bassist Gary Mazzaroppi for trio renditions of "In Walked Bud," "All the Things You Are" and "Polka Dots and Moonbeams."

Listen: Bela Fleck On Piano Jazz

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Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn On Mountain Stage

Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn. Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage hide caption

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Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage

Mountain Stage

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn On Mountain Stage

The unofficial "first family of the banjo" combines powerful vocals and revolutionary techniques. Hear six songs from Fleck and Washburn, recorded live on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan College.

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn On Mountain Stage

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Music Interviews

Fleck, Meyer, Hussain: Border Crossing

The world of music seems to have fewer and fewer borders these days. Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain are players who regularly cross over into new frontiers. Now, all three have collaborated on an album called The Melody of Rhythm.

Fleck, Meyer, Hussain: Border Crossing

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Studio Sessions

Bela Fleck And Toumani Diabate: Banjo Roots

A few years ago, the banjo master Fleck set out to explore the birthplace of his instrument: West Africa. The results of his cross-cultural explorations are collected on a new album. He describes and performs some of his findings, with Malian kora virtuoso Diabate.

Bela Fleck And Toumani Diabate: Banjo Roots

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