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Béla Fleck played his banjo back at Bucknell University’s Weis Center in Lewisburg, PA on Saturday, February 27, 2010. The accomplished banjo player, Béla Fleck,  is on tour for his “The Africa Project” which honors the fact that his instrument originated in Africa.

Béla Fleck recently won two Grammy Awards (Best Contemporary World Music Album and Best Pop Instrumental Performance) for his album “Throw Down Your Heart”.  The album and video document his exploration through Africa and tracing the origins of the banjo and stopping to play with some of Africa’s finest musicians while traveling from town to town.  Bela continuea to challenge himself by stretching his musical boundaries and this documentary is proof.

The roughly two and a half hour show highlighted and celebrated some of Africa’s finest musicians:
From Mali – Bassekouyate & Ngoni Ba, n’gonis from Mali
From Tanzania – Anania Ngaliga (Thumb Piano) and John Kitime (Guitar)

After Béla came out and played a song by himself, he let Anania Ngaliga and John Kitime have the stage for a few songs. Seeing Anania Ngaliga play the thumb piano was a sight to behold.  Not only because he made it look so effortlessly and he probably has the fastest moving thumbs I have ever seen, but he is also blind.  The “keys” on the instrument are very narrow so it made for an impressive performance.

After Anania Ngaliga and John Kitime left the stage, Bassekouyate & Ngoni Ba took the stage.  Bassekouyate is the leader of the group and is sort of a Jimi Hendrix on the N’goni (Malian banjo), he even had his hooked up to a Cry Baby Wah pedal for portions of the night.  The members are all family and the singer is his wife.

While the African musicians were the main focus of the show, Béla put on a solid performance as expected.  After the intermission, he played some more songs solo and one of them was played almost entirely notes from harmonics and bending noted using nothing more than the tuning peg on his banjo.   Béla is without a doubt one of the world’s finest banjo players.  Also, to add a touch of traditional bluegrass to the show, Zach Casey is also on the tour playing the fiddle.