Béla Fleck

Bio

Béla Fleck is an American banjo player and composer recognized for expanding the instrument's role across jazz, classical, bluegrass, and world music. Born in New York City in 1958, he began on guitar before switching to banjo at age 15 and later studied at New York City's High School of Music and Art. Fleck first gained prominence in the 1980s with the progressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival, then formed the Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, whose fusion of acoustic and electronic textures earned widespread attention. Over a career spanning four decades he has released numerous solo and collaborative albums, performed with orchestras worldwide, and explored traditional African music with the quartet Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn.