Bela Fleck rocks U. Museum

The group blended jazz, rock, country and funk in their sold-out show. Under the carved brick roof of the University Museum's Harrison Auditorium, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones jazzed up an overflow crowd of more than 800 devoted fans last night. Joined by saxophonist Jeff Coffin, the Grammy Award-winning band brought their unique fusion of jazz, rock, country and funk to Penn as part of a concert organized by the Social Planning and Events Committee's Jazz and Concert sectors. "Playing in Philadelphia's always cool," Fleck said. "I just loved the show because we were playing to such a mixed audience -- a real listening crowd that got into the music." The banjo player led his Nashville, Tenn.-based group on a 2 1/2-hour jaunt through a number of musical genres with a wide variety of instruments. Bassist Victor Lemonte Wooten, recently named Bass Player magazine's performer of the year for 1997, kicked off the show with an electric bass solo. Minutes later, he and Fleck traded riffs from popular tunes ranging from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony to the theme song from I Dream of Jeannie. The quartet moved on to play several selections from their 1993 album Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and "The Loneliest Monk," a song from Wooten's latest solo effort, What Did He Say? Coffin, featured quite prominently during the evening, played the soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, as well as a flute and a whistle. At one point, the self-acknowledged "man with the upside-down Don King haircut" played the tenor and alto saxophones simultaneously. "We're trying to see how many things we can fit into Jeff's mouth, instrumentally speaking," Fleck joked to the crowd. Known as "Future Man," Wooten's brother Roy punctuated the concert with synthesized rhythm emanating from his synth-axe drumitar, a customized electronic guitar that incorporates drums and percussion. Future Man provided a break in the action with a solo that drew heavily on African sounds. Sporting a black pirate hat and a vest, Future Man added vocals to a number of pieces including "Sunset Road" and "Communication." On "Communication," Fleck traded his signature banjo for a "Swiss-Army guitar from Switzerland that I've only used for non-violent purposes." But before long, the virtuoso -- who has played with Bruce Hornsby, Branford Marsalis, the Dave Matthews Band and the late bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe -- returned to the banjo for a solo that highlighted his technical talents. Called back to the stage for an encore, the band ended the show with a rendition of their Grammy Award-winning song "The Sinister Minister." Breaking a string with his enthusiastic jamming, bassist Wooten showcased the abilities that make him a favorite among fans and musicians alike. In addition to the banjo, Fleck waited until the final song to play the theremin, a magnetic field instrument invented in 1919 that responds to hand motion. "Their performance just leaves you at a loss for words," College freshman David Caldwell said. Indeed, the crowd -- made up of college students from around the Philadelphia area, intense Fleck fans and middle-age listeners -- was nearly as eclectic as Fleck's music itself. But regardless of age, fans and organizers lauded the group's performance. "The band was really, really tight, and it can't get better than that," Villanova University freshman Neil Barratt said.

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