The Monterey Jazz Festival and Kuumbwa Jazz join together to present Béla Fleck, with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Bryan Sutton, featuring music from Fleck’s new album, My Bluegrass Heart. Of the collaboration between Monterey Jazz Festival and Kuumbwa Jazz, Tim Jackson, Artistic Director for both nonprofits, shares “I’m really pleased to see two great organizations join forces with the purpose of bringing more great music to the Santa Cruz-Monterey area.”
“They nearly always come back,” said Fleck. “All the people that leave bluegrass. I had a strong feeling that I’d be coming back as well.” My Bluegrass Heart is that return the 15-time Grammy-winner is talking about – the third chapter in a decades-spanning trilogy which, by his counting, stated with 1988’s Drive and continued with The Bluegrass Sessions. Over the long and lauded course of this unique creative run, Fleck – the world’s premier banjo virtuoso and a celebrated musical adventurer – has both dug deep into his instrument’s complex global history and unlocked the breadth of its possibilities. My Bluegrass Heart is a homecoming in sound, to be sure.
In some ways, Fleck has always thought of himself as coming from the outside of bluegrass. “I don’t come from the South, and I always felt like there were people who were more truly focused on doing that bluegrass thing really well. What I tended to want to do was expand the banjo’s role and look for new things to do with it. Despite that, I was always a bluegrass guy first and foremost. That was certainly my musical soul.”
Print quality images available: https://www.kuumbwajazz.org/press-photos/
CALENDAR INFO:
DATE: Monday, December 13, 2021
VENUE: Sunset Center
ADDRESS: San Carlos St. at Ninth Ave., Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93923
TIME: 7:30 PM
PRICE: $70 – $120
MORE INFO: https://bit.ly/3DQl3wH
The mission of Monterey Jazz Festival (MJF) is to inspire the discovery and celebration of jazz, anchored by an iconic festival. Founded in 1958, celebrates the legacy of jazz, expands its boundaries, and provides opportunities to experience jazz through the creative production of performances and educational programs. For more information, please visit montereyjazzfestival.org.
Kuumbwa Jazz provides opportunities for residents and visitors in the Santa Cruz area to enjoy and appreciate the full spectrum of jazz music through live performance and education. We present extraordinary regional, national, and international musicians and provide educational programs for people of all ages. Kuumbwa Jazz envisions a community where all people can experience the joy of music and understand the value and legacy of jazz as an original American art form. Kuumbwa Jazz is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, please visit kuumbwajazz.org.