Bela Fleck &the Flecktones' constant quest to create an original and exciting blend of jazz, bluegrass, classical and world music has garnered worldwide recognition from fans of almost all genres of music. Following up their 2001 Grammy winning album Outbound, Bela &company bring forth Little Worlds, a 27-song collaborative effort that began in the fall of 2001 and spanned over the course of a couple years.
Over the course of three discs,
Little Worlds features over 30 different musicians, including Bobby McFerrin, Sam Bush, Derek Trucks, Nickel Creek, Branford Marsalis, Jerry Douglas and many, many more (even Yankee's outfielder Bernie Williams makes an appearance on the album). While the extensive collaborations produce some magical moments on the album, at other times they come off as experiments that just don't work (and at times you even get both on the same track). Case in point is "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" - a merging of bluegrass with hip-hop produces uninteresting results in a take of this Flatt &Scruggs tune. Female rapper Divinity's vocals don't fit well over Fleck's bouncy banjo rhythm, although vocal wizard Bobby Mcferrin matching Fleck's banjo lines with precision toward the end of the tune is nothing short of fascinating.
At the other end of the spectrum, "Off the Top (A &B)" pairs Bela with Chris Thile, Sean Watkins and Sarah Watkins from Nickel Creek, producing almost mesmerizing results. Fleck displays why he is often considered the world's premier banjo player with his intricate and fluid picking, interacting wonderfully with Thile's impressive mandolin playing. "The Leaning Tower", another one of the album's highlights, showcases a Gaelic influence as the band romps through the tune's odd time signatures. Victor Wooten's bass slapping works surprisingly well with Fleck's elaborate classical infused banjo lines on "Mudslingers of the Milky Way" and "Captive Delusions".
Jeff Coffin's ever growing role in the band is on display in songs such as "Latitude" and "Bill Mon", as his jazzy saxophone and clarinet lines dance over the tight rhythm created by Wooten's bass and Future Man's drumitar. Little World's tight compositions are interspersed with more experimental tracks such as the spacey "Longitude" and the eerie "Centrifuge", which features Derek Trucks' subtle and convincing slide guitar work.
"Hidden" tracks at the end of the first and second discs are nothing more than several minutes of minimal noise effects, making you wonder what, if any, purpose they are intended to serve at all.
While
Little Worlds is very solid throughout and features some very exciting moments, the lack of variety makes it difficult to maintain interest over the entirety of the 3-disc set. Fortunately,
Little Worlds is also being offered in a single-disc version, which features 9 of the album's highlight's packed into a more listenable and affordable version.
