Béla Fleck
New York native Fleck has one of the most instantly recognizable names in bluegrass. His amazing banjo style has been used to play everything from traditional bluegrass to jazz, his diverse interests driving his own style. A protegee on the banjo, only five years after taking up the instrument he recorded his first album, Crossing the Tracks, which was named by Fret Magazine's Reader's Poll as "Best Overall Album" in 1979. He's worked with bands Spectrum, the New Grass Revival, Strength in Numbers, as well as Jerry Douglas, Mark O'Connor, Sam Bush, and his own Flecktones, another spectacular collection of musicians.
Fleck and his Flecktones recorded their debut disc in 1990, and followed it up with Flight of the Cosmic Hippo in 1991. In 2005 he got together with Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush to release the Grammy-nominated song, "Who's Your Uncle" released on Douglas's disc, The Best-Kept Secret.
Previous Grammy Wins:
- Best Country Instrumental Performance (with Asleep at the Wheel and Johnny Gimble) - "Hightower" - 1995
- Best Pop Instrumental Performance - Béla Fleck & The Flecktones - The Sinister Minister - 1996
- Best Instrumental Composition - Béla Fleck, Future Man & Victor Lemonte Wooten - Almost 12 - 1998
- Best Contemporary Jazz Album - Béla Fleck & The Flecktones - Outbound - 2000
- Best Country Instrumental Performance (with Alison Brown) - "Leaving Cottondale" - 2000
- Best Classical Crossover Album - Perpetual Motion - Scarlatti, Bach, Debussy, Chopin - 2001
- Best Instrumental Arrangement - Claude Debussy "Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum" From Children's Corner - 2001
Current Grammy Nominations:
- Best Country Instrumental Performance (with Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush) - "Who's Your Uncle"
(Bio courtesy of Kathy Coleman)