Juno Concerto [Barnes & Noble Exclusive] in Bloomington, MN

Bluegrass and fusion banjoist
Bela Fleck
and the
Colorado Symphony Orchestra
(a group well-placed for a progressive bluegrass experiment) here offer
Fleck
's
Juno Concerto
, a work named for the young son of
and his less fleet-fingered but equally musically adventurous banjoist/vocalist wife,
Abigail Washburn
. It's not
's first attempt at a banjo-classical fusion: often working with bassist
Edgar Meyer
, his experiments in this vein go back to the Quintet for banjo and strings, written with
Meyer
in 1984 and recorded in part here.
, alone, composed an earlier full-fledged banjo concerto in 2011, entitled
The Impostor
and exploring the seeming contradiction between bluegrass soloist and classical orchestra. The
resembles the earlier works written with
a bit more than
, with flowing fusion banjo solos blooming out of
Copland-esque
fanfare music in the opening movement.
announced his intention "to create more and better slow music" in this work, and indeed the slow movement, based on a simple plucked figure in the banjo, is the part that sticks with you the most here. It's hard to associate the rather brash finale with
's little son, but the banjo passagework is undeniably crowd-pleasing. Those interested in
's work outside bluegrass and fusion might also check out
Throw Down Your Heart
, in which he collaborates with musicians from various parts of Africa, but he leaves no doubt here that he has the chops for long-form classical composition. ~ James Manheim