Interview: Bela Fleck

Banjoist Bela Fleck's Africa Project--which started in 2007 with visits to Uganda, Tanzania, the Gambia and Mali--launched its latest pass through the US on Tuesday (2/2), the same day Fleck released "Throw Down Your Heart: Africa Sessions Part 2, Unreleased Tracks."

Fleck's 33-city tour, which features Mali's ngoni master Bassekouye Kouyate & Ngoni Ba and thumb pianist Anania Ngoliga from Tanzania, is the second go-round in support of the documentary "Throw Down Your Heart" and its soundtrack, which just won two Grammys.. Sub Pop Records, home to acts such as Fleet Foxes, Wolf Parade and The Shins, released Kouyate's "I Speak Fula" on Feb. 2 as well.

Fresh off a tour with bassist Edgar Meyer and percussionist Zakir Hussain--and before Sunday's (1/31) Grammy wins--Fleck discussed the Africa project's evolution, self-releasing music and future plans for the Flecktones.

SoundSpike: When the film debuted in 2008, it had no distributor, but it has yielded two albums and two tours. In the film, it felt like there was a major question mark as to whether any of this would work and yet it has become a significant part of your musical life. How much of this was planned?

Bela Fleck: I never really thought it through. I was really nervous, actually scared, to tour and bring these people over and fit them into a concert setting. Bringing those guys over to tour (last spring) led into playing with Toumani Diabate and Oumou Sangare (in the summer). Once we had the tour planned I thought I really wanted to get out more of this music. I wanted (to release) a double album, but I didn't have enough of it ready to go. (Ultimately), I didn't want to put out a difficult project at a difficult time, so we just put out the one disc.

My guess is that you had to move on to the Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain project.

That's a whole different scene. But, yes, I expected the African stuff to be long over before I did the project with Edgar and Zakir, but it just kept going.

In the film, there's a sense that you do not know what you are getting as you travel to each location. That really adds to the charm of the film. How does the mindset change as you tour with these musicians?

Most of the people, I met with for a day and then recorded for a day. When they came over to tour, we saw each other every night for about three weeks and we got to know each other as musicians and friends. One of the great things about touring is that the bus becomes like a petri dish. Traveling together (we developed) a much deeper relationship than is seen in the movie. Not that there isn't something deep in the first meeting that's captured in the movie. It's much further in.

As you get to know one another, how does the creation of songs evolve?

It's kind of like being in studio. You usually don't know the music as well as you will a year later when you're playing it onstage--you come to understand each piece as a language and a game with certain rules. When you play a song over and over, as the song becomes an entity, you know where your choices are as an improviser. You're pushing the edges and looking for new ways to break up (a song) and find the center. I know I'm getting abstract here.

Does that happen with each of the musicians, or do you have a different role with each?

Each setting is different. I've done duo concerts with Toumani Diabate and we're equally rolling along going back and forth all night. It's a sound we're creating. With Oumou Sangare and her big rock band of seven or eight musicians, I'm playing electric banjo like I'm another guitarist, except they're playing these African instruments, not guitars. Playing with (thumb pianist) Anania, there's a very playful energy; we're playing with this lovely sound and the instruments are blending. With Toumani, it's deep and spiritual most of the time. There is a lot of potential on this tour that we're about to do with Bassekouye and his band. I have sat and played with them a little bit. We're waiting to see how they're going to play with Anania. Their traditions don't normally go together, but we're going to find a way to do this. I bet it will be good on the first night and by the end it will be the most natural thing.

Will you film any of it?

I haven't filmed any of the concerts in the states. Part of it is the sheer amount of work it creates. I thought it would have been great to film the four acts from ("Throw Down Your Heart") in the US, but I can't continue to spend that kind of money. We had such a hard time with the film. We never really got it sold. It was a huge expenditure that I paid for myself that I will never see back. I won't be able to do this again. If I find an investor, then I would do it in a minute. I'd like to go to India, South America, China--all kinds of amazing places with amazing music that the banjo could have an interaction with.

The film has been released on DVD by New Video but you are putting out the second edition of the soundtrack on your own. What made you decide to go that route?

Part of it is an experiment. How much in this day and age, if you have a good publicist working a project, do you need a record company any more? What are the benefits? Obviously, there are some, but it's less and less clear that the kind of deal you make with a record company is worth it. So I wanted to try one myself to see if the time is right to do it myself. This seems like the right one to roll the dice on. I can always release it later through another label if I decide it doesn't work and it just doesn't get out there. I like the idea of nothing between me, the project and the audience. No big structure, no big company to pay, and, in this day and age, it should be a viable (method). It's all about getting people to want it.

A win at the Grammys could certainly raise its profile.

It wouldn't hurt. But Grammys don't necessarily help record sales. They do help general notoriety and respect. Sometimes, it affects the kinds of fees you can get and the amount of money you can pay people.

After the Africa project tour ends, what's next on the calendar?

There's another tour at the end of April in Australia with Oumou. That's the end of the dates I have booked with African artists at this point. We'll see at the end if we want to do more, but it may just be time to move on. Sometimes, it's confusing to people--the booking agencies and the promoters and the audience--if you're doing too many different things. You can't go to a town more than once a year, and not even that often if you're playing larger places. The Flecktones intend to record before the end of this year and plan to do some major touring in 2011. That's exciting, because we have been waiting for everyone (in the band) to be ready to want to do this and I think we're there. I'm also conceiving a banjo concerto and a movie has been offered to me (to score). Lots of fun things on the horizon.