AN EVENING WITH
BÉLA FLECK, ZAKIR HUSSAIN & EDGAR MEYER

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2009, 7:00 P.M.
AT BASS CONCERT HALL

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

On Sunday, September 13 at Bass Concert Hall, the 2009-2010 Texas Performing Arts season opens with an unparalleled collaboration between banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck, composer and double-bass master Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain, arguably the world’s greatest tabla player, in support of their new release The Melody of Rhythm.

An understanding of musical tradition has led all three of these musical explorers to this common crossroad. “When I play with Zakir, I’m not an Indian musician but I can learn enough to be respectful in my ignorance. We can find a place to meet,” says Fleck, “America’s most celebrated banjoist” (LA Times) who holds the record for the artist nominated in the greatest number of Grammy categories. “Along with carrying the top level of Indian classical music in his veins, Zakir is incredible at understanding music from all over the world and collaborates effectively with an amazingly diverse number of musicians.” In 2009, Hussain earned a Grammy in the Best Contemporary World category for Global Drum Project.

“Working with Béla and Edgar is an experience that transcends musical
collaboration,” adds Zakir, recently praised by the New York Times as “peerless…fearsome technician but also a whimsical inventor.” “Certainly it is a creative effort unprecedented in my own life, a way of looking at melody and rhythm through their eyes, affording me another way of expressing myself through my instrument. Plus we’re family!”

“The give and take between musicians is often very defining. Ideally, I’m more focused on Béla and Zakir than I am on myself,” says Meyer, hailed by the New Yorker as “the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively unchronicled history of his instrument.” Meyer and Fleck have been collaborating for more than 25 years, including the albums Music For Two, Uncommon Ritual and the Grammy-winning Perpetual Motion. “From the beginning, Bela’s vision on the instrument transcended traditional expectations. Zakir also brings a complete redefining of tabla without any loss of traditional values.”

“Edgar is one of my longtime pals and influences. I’m thrilled to find a new way to collaborate with him,” add Fleck.

Originally commissioned by the Nashville Symphony in 2004, Edgar and Béla agreed their dream collaborator would be Zakir Hussain. “There was a lot Edgar and I wanted to learn from him – mathematics and harmonic musical concepts – and now we had something to offer him in return,” says Fleck, who developed a fascination with the tabla during a tour of India in the ‘80s. “This project feels like getting together with some brothers we hadn’t seen in some time.”

CALENDAR LISTING

Sunday, September 13, 2009, 7:00 pm – The University of Texas at Austin Performing Arts Center presents Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain & Edgar Meyer at Bass Concert Hall (E. 23rd St. and Robert Dedman Dr). A map of the campus:
http://www.utpac.org/visit/maps_directions. Tickets ($26 – $40 / Limited $10 student tickets / discounted tickets available for UT faculty & staff, seniors and Military) are on sale now at authorized ticket outlets, which include the Bass Concert Hall Box Office, most H-E-B stores and all Texas Box Office outlets, online at www.utpac.org, or by calling (512) 477-6060 or (800) 982-BEVO.

PRESS CONTACT:
Gene Bartholomew
512.471.0632 gbartholomew@utpac.org

Download a PDF (198 KB) copy of the Fleck, Hussain & Meyer Press Release