Given his instrument's strong associations with bluegrass, banjo hero
Bela Fleck has spent much of his career moving away from the music that inspired him back in the 1970s. His unbridled virtuosity, prolific output, and hunger for innovation have made him the instrument's foremost ambassador, and he has the eclectic catalog to prove it. The past two decades have seen
Fleck exploring jazz fusion, classical, African music, and everything in between, but on
My Bluegrass Heart, he makes a grand return to the kind of progressive power picking that characterized his mid-'80s work as part of the pioneering
New Grass Revival. Of course, a
Bela Fleck bluegrass album isn't a traditional bluegrass album, and this one, his first since 1999's
The Bluegrass Sessions, is full of the distinctive twists and turns that are his hallmark. Among those joining him on these sessions are similarly innovative players of the new school (mandolinist
Sierra Hull, guitarist
Billy Strings), modern masters (mandolinist
Chris Thile, fiddler
Billy Contreras), and fellow legends (dobro player
Jerry Douglas, banjoist
Tony Trischka). At 19 original tracks spread over two discs,
My Bluegrass Heart is a feast of instrumental wizardry that runs the gamut from more traditionally minded cuts like "Our Little Secret" and the "Hug Point" medley to wonkier fare like the avant farmyard vamp "Us Chickens" and the speedy "Charm School." The album's clean production and technical precision are nicely offset by the players' charming pre- and post-roll banter that clearly reveals just how much fun they are having. As a rule, the bluegrass playground is not a modest place, and with this much capital-T talent on board, songs have a tendency to spiral into bludgeoning shred-fests like the almost-maniacal "Slippery Eel," which, impressive as it is, has more notes than should be safely consumed by the human ear. Despite its strutting,
My Bluegrass Heart has plenty of tasteful moments, especially on the harmonic-laden closer "Psalm 136," a still dazzling though more subtle show of craft that leaves listeners on a high note. ~ Timothy Monger
![Desire [Remastered]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0827969239322_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Desire [Remastered]")
