Pawleys Island Festival Taking “Eclectic” to New Heights
Raging eclecticism. That's how Grammy-winning artist Béla Fleck describes the music of his group, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. The term is also perfectly apropos in describing the evolving program of the 2007 Pawleys Island Festival of Music & Art, in which the Flecktones will be playing a starring role come September.
The first tickets for the Festival's many shows go on sale July 1. Among other groups now slated to join the Flecktones as part of the concert series' dynamic mix of talent: Louisiana's Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, and high-powered fusion group Barrage.
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones' music is a one-of-a-kind, ultra-charged blend of jazz, bluegrass and funk. They've performed with the Dave Matthews Band, and on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." While their "Late Night" performance is a great one to see, there's something about the next two that flat-out blew me away. First, check out this rendition of "Scratch and Sniff":
As if the Flecktones' world-renowned bassist, Victor Wooten, isn't amazing enough, witness this guitar battle with his brother, Regi Wooten. Simply jaw-dropping:
Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience is one of the more innovative and prolific performers today of zydeco - a form of American roots music with a heavy Creole influence. Curious? Here's a recent live performance from Tipitina's in New Orleans:
Then there's the music of Barrage - a modern fiddle-fest which, as the group describes in its own words, "combines contemporary world music influences, layered vocal arrangements and pulsating modern beats and rhythms." Here's a great example, as Barrage performed "Dark Haired Boy" at Disney's California Adventure in April 2006:
We'll have more details at the Beach Blog as the Festival's program continues to take shape over the next several weeks.
Will Ferrell rocks the bassoon!