Bela Fleck & The Flecktones

Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck has certainly broken more boundaries than any other picker in recent memory, from his early days performing bluegrass-inspired folk compositions on Rounder in the late '70s to his quirky jazz freak-outs with the Flecktones throughout the '90s. In late 2001, this peculiar innovator released an album of banjo interpretations of classical works by Bach, Chopin, and Scarlatti. Before classical purists roll their eyes, they must remember that the banjo hasn't always been seen as the instrument of choice of backwoods musicians in the Appalachian mountains, but as recently as the 1940s was used as a primary rhythm instrument in all manner of parlor music.

Released the same year as PLACES, 1987's DAYBREAK has less of the eclecticism of the former outing, but still captures banjo player Bela Fleck merging his bluegrass roots with forays into other genres (fusions he would perfect with his '90s outfit the Flecktones). The lead-off track, "Texas Barbeque," shows Fleck can still pick his way masterfully through the bluegrass idiom, but the following cut, a version of Chick Corea's romantic, pulsing composition "Spain" (with banjo and mandolin taking the lead lines), proves Fleck is no straight-laced traditionalist. Likewise, the Celtic-flavored "Growling Old Man and the Grumbling Old Woman," the Fats Waller rag "How Can You Face Me Now," and the sweeping ballad "The Natural Bridge Suite" have Fleck moving all over the musical map with grace and ease.