Bela Fleck & The Flecktones get into the holiday spirit

liveDaily is reporting:

Bela Fleck [ tickets ] & The Flecktones will get a jump on Christmas with their first-ever holiday album and a tour to support it.

The virtuosic band--comprising banjo master Fleck, bassist Victor Wooten, percussionist/Drumitarist Future Man and saxophonist Jeff Coffin--is set to hit the road in early November, starting with a run of dates in the South American countries of Chile and Argentina. The experimental group will move into North America with a series of shows in Mexico, and then launch a 17-city US run Nov. 15 in Spokane, WA.
The schedule includes a six-night residency at Yoshi's in San Francisco, two-night stands in the Hawaiian cities of Kamuela and Honolulu, and a five-show tour finale at New York City's Blue Note. North American dates are listed below and international shows can be found at the Flecktones' website.

The band is gearing up for the Sept. 30 release of "Jingle All The Way," the first holiday album of the Flecktones' 20-year career. In the true spirit of the genre-bending troupe, the set morphs traditional music and standards into expressive, often highly composed soundscapes, according to a press release. It features everything from banjo-harmonic arrangements of "Christmas Time Is Here" and "River," to a Tuvan-inspired, worldbeat rendition of "What Child Is This / Dyngyldai"

"We always imagined we would do a holiday album," Fleck said in a statement. "When the Flecktones first got together, we worked out a Christmas medley; it was really fun. People loved it, and we continued to play it every year.”

Guests on the record include world-renowned bassist Edgar Meyer, clarinetist Andy Statman and Tuvan throat singers The Alash Ensemble.

"Jingle All The Way" follows Bela Fleck & The Flecktones' 2006 release, "The Hidden Land," which snagged the No. 2 spot on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz chart.

Fleck, considered by many to be the premiere banjo player in the world, is the only musician to be nominated for Grammys in the jazz, bluegrass, pop, country, spoken word, Christian, composition and world music categories, according to his bio. The performer has earned 25 nods and taken home 10 gold statues.

[Note: The following tour dates have been provided by artist and/or tour sources, who verify its accuracy as of the publication time of this story. Changes may occur before tickets go on sale. Check with official artist websites, ticketing sources and venues for late updates.]

November 2008
9 - Mexico City, Mexico - Vive Cuervo Salon
11 - Guadalajara, Mexico - Teatro Diana
12 - Monterrey, Mexico - Teatro De La Ciudad
13 - Puebla, Mexico - Patio Del Museo
15 - Spokane, WA - INB Performing Arts Center
16 - Bend, OR - Tower Theater
18-23 - San Francisco, CA - Yoshi's
25, 26 - Kamuela, HI - Kahilu Theatre
28, 29 - Honolulu, HI - Blaisdell Concert Hall
30 - Kahului, HI - Maui Arts and Cultural Center

December 2008
5 - Springfield, MO - Missouri State University/Juanita K. Hammons Hall
6 - Louisville, KY - W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre
8 - Rutland, VT - Paramount Theatre
9 - Albany, NY - The Egg/Hart Theatre
10 - Buffalo, NY - University at Buffalo Center for the Arts
11 - Alexandria, VA - Birchmere
12 - Fairfield, CT - Fairfield University/The Quick Center for the Arts
13 - Northampton, MA - The Calvin Theatre
14 - Brownfield, ME - Stone Mountain Arts Center
16 - Philadelphia, PA - Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts/Verizon Hall
17-21 - New York, NY - The Blue Note

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