Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Left Of Cool
Warner Bros.
This is the fifth studio album for the band, and the first in nearly five years… but as it proves, Left Of Cool is quite worth the long wait. (Although, the band says the material for this album was written in a period of eight days!) On LoC, the band puts all its artistry and imagination into work, arriving at fifteen diverse songs – in a range of categories like pop, funk, jazz, folk, rock, and classical – and many tracks amalgamating different formats and genres.
Bela Fleck plays guitar, banjo, and everything else that is stringed. Victor Wooten, considered one of the world’s finest bass players, is phenomenal on bass, and Jeff Coffin’s brass and flute add color and flair to the music. (Future Man, the fourth member, has his job on the drum machine and vocals.) This album also features guest artists Amy Grant and Dave Matthews on some vocal tracks. On the production side, the band maintains its reputation in musical mastery with their fine production and engineering of Left of Cool.