Echoes of America: A History of the 5-String Banjo (Part 6)

[krimskrams]

pete once again nailed it so beautifully with his views on folk music and particularly the "don't mourn the loss of ancient gold" statement. and he continued to do so in the recent steve martin documentary "give me the banjo" with him saying "this banjo can do thing that a guitar can't do... you have these needle-points of tone...like a constellation in the sky... you can pick it out and somehow there is a melody to it" best way to describe the sound :)

[FANJG24]

The banjo just doesn't "roll" freely in other types of music though :)

[nasty5oh]

Am I the only one wondering where J D Crowe is at in this film ? I would have much rather seen him than Bela.

[Titanius1066]

@nasty5oh While JD is an excellent and influential banjo player his influence doesn't extend much beyond bluegrass music. Bela made a conscience effort to take the banjo beyond its usual rolls (no pun intended) in Bluegrass and Oldtime music to new genres in a very public way via flecktones and eventually other projects.

[briguy725]

Anyone know the name of the tune that starts at 7:25?

[LandRoversForLife]

@briguy725 its stephen by tony ellis

[lpilk2007]

@LandRoversForLife Love that tune , neary got it sussed by ear. Do you know where to get the tab?

[LandRoversForLife]

@lpilk2007 rickmckeon[dot]com has tab

[OKcomp]

Bela autographed my banjo! Such a cool dude, great workshop.

[giggleblaggle]

@OKcomp Me too!

[PhilipK100]

Bela Flex's banjo playing makes me think of Guitarist Jeff Beck :) and Bela Flex looks like a young Keith Richards with his long hair here :)

[lastfirstface]

Thanks a lot for posting this documentary. 

[AccordionTheif]

Dang, you can tell that video was from back in the day. Vic Wooten still had a jerry curl and didn't look a day over 25. But damnit if he couldn't play the hell out of that bass.

[VegasGuitarGod]

BELA IS GOD !! ! ! ! !