Fleck’s major areas of dexterity with regards to his banjo playing are in the genres of jazz, fusion and bluegrass. Bluegrass music is the music of UK immigrants to America and is a form of roots music distinctive for its numerous breakdowns, where one instrument improvises while the others perform in background harmony. The banjo itself is a four, five, or even six-stringed instrument that vibrates a plastic membrane on a distinct circular frame. It was brought to America by African slaves.

Bela Fleck gained prominence for his banjo playing early in his career. He was born in New York City and tastefully named Bela Anton Leos Fleck after famed European composers Bela Bartok, Anton Webern and Leos Janacek. Fleck was drawn towards banjo playing after Flatt & Scruggs’ music on Beverly Hillbillies made quite an impression on him. Aged 15, his grandfather gave him his first banjo and he enrolled at the High School of Music and Art to study the French horn. Banjo was not an offered elective there and Fleck was demoted from the chorus following uninspiring results. He sought private banjo lessons with Erik Darling, Tony Trischka and Mark Horowitz, improving under their tutelage. Stanley Clarke and Chick Corea’s electric live concert with Return Forever inspired him to wield his wild experimental side in his work.

Moving to Boston, he was recording albums with the jazz-tuned Tasty Licks by 19. Crossing the Tracks, his first solo work, came out in 1979 and it was bluegrass-themed. Relocating to Lexington, Fleck teamed up with Tasty Licks bassist Mark Schatz, guitarist Glen Lawson and mandolin pro Jimmy Gaudreau to form "Spectrum".

Playing in Spectrum till 1981, Bela Fleck moved up a notch to Sam Bush’s New Grass Revival and unleashed his creative instincts, enjoying a great decade with the band. In 1988, amid blinding solo success, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones was formed with harmonica player Howard Levy and Victor & Roy Wooten. The Flecktones have since made it big on many award-winning albums and allowed Fleck great creative freedom to work with the likes of Corea, Bush and Edward Meyer. He maintains side-projects Trio! and Sparrow Quartet. In 2005, during the Flecktones’ hiatus, Fleck visited Gambia, Uganda, Tanzania and Mali to trace the banjo’s origins and collaborate with local artists; the journey was later released as a documentary.

Bela Fleck has been nominated for Grammys in the categories of arranging, composition, spoken word, folk, classical, bluegrass, jazz, pop and country. The nine nominations are a record. He received his first nomination in 1986 for New Grass Revival’s country-themed Seven by Seven and received a further nomination for his solo album Drive when bluegrass was first introduced as an award category in 1988. By the time of his first win for 1995’s Hightower with ‘Asleep at the Wheel’, he had already notched up various nominations in spoken word, country, bluegrass and jazz.

Bela Fleck Tickets have brought fans to witness firsthand his legendary improvisational spark. He has performed at various festivals like Montreal Jazz Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Upcoming dates see him in Charlottesville and Windsor with the Noisemakers.

Bela Fleck has changed the dimension of banjo playing. The instrument was considered one-dimensional, but Fleck’s exploits have seen him slip seamlessly into top-class collaborations and set the earth alight when playing solo. The enormous craft will be seen live by lucky fans with Bela Fleck Tickets in the upcoming concerts