Béla Fleck & Edgar Meyer

One wouldn’t normally equate the bass and the banjo as complementary instruments — especially as the dominant pair of instruments for a classical CD. But, when two musicians as accomplished as Grammy-winners Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer get together, the magical musical result is an interplay between banjo and bass that one never would have fathomed possible. The combination of the banjo (usually equated with bluegrass) and the upright bass (often found in jazz), creates a bluegrass-jazz fusion that allows the listener to have lunch in Kentucky and dinner in Memphis. Three tours from when the pair performed together throughout the last few years were culled together to create Music for Two. It’s a delicate dialogue between two masterful musicians, a conversation that changes in mood and tone many times throughout each improvised piece. The disc also includes a bonus DVD directed by Béla’s brother. The 40-minute road movie called OBSTINATO: Making Music for Two, takes a behind the scenes look at the tour and intimately captures the pair’s creative partnership. Songs run the gamut from Fleck and Meyer originals and collaborations between the two, to classical reinventions of J.S. Bach. Overall, Music for Two is a warm and unique listening experience.