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| Perpetual Motion | 
 enlarge | Artists: Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Evelyn Glennie, Joshua Bell, Gary Hoffman, John [guitar] Williams, Domenico Scarlatti, Johann Sebastian Bach, Claude Debussy, Fryderyk Chopin, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Johannes Brahms, Niccolo Paganini, Ludwig Van Beethoven
Label: Sony
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $8.48
You Save: $9.50 (53%)
Buy New/Used from $7.96
Avg. Customer Rating:  (43 reviews)
Sales Rank: 17777
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 89610
UPC: 696998961029
EAN: 0696998961029
ASIN: B00005OSX6
Release Date: October 2, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Perpetual Delight January 16, 2002
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have always loved the music featured, and these arrangements served the music beatifully.
This is NUTZ! A masterpiece! January 11, 2002
Mindboggling virtuosity! Insane! Bela, you're incredible. Listeners will shake their heads while smiling. A delightful listen of grand masters' creations,...but Bela will take your breath taken away with the dizzying fingerings he must have concocted for this recording. How does he do it? Bela says he's been wanting to do this for 10 years. Well, it's finally here. He's locked the Grammy for crossover; I've got my tickets for the PERPETUAL MOTION concert in Minneapolis;...and YOU should own this CD. Bela,...you knucklehead...you continue to blow me away... Thanks for the melodic verdigo...
Fleck performs his magic December 19, 2001
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
WOW! Seldom do you come across an album where every piece of music is worth listening to repeatedly,but this one will blow your mind.Traditional classical works played on mostly Bluegrass instruments.Who knew it could work so well?Edgar Meyer performs on bass and piano;Joshua Bell on violin(His 1732 Stradivarius sounds golden);Gary Hoffman on a 1662 Amati cello;Evelyn Glennie on marimba;and Chris Thile on mandolin.Fleck and Meyer almost without exception(the Tchakovksy piece doesn't really work or fit)excellent pieces for transcription.All the works are given a new dimension or at worst lose nothing in the interpretations.A highly enjoyable disc.The musicians play like they are having genuine fun!The tempos are perfect,if a little too safe at times.Crisp,clear sound.No complaints.Disc time:57'44.Here are some highlights.Track 3:Are you ready for down home Debussy?Track 5:Fleck solo.Stunning interpretation of a Bach solo violin masterpiece.Track 7:A sly banjo and violin Chopin Mazurka.Track 10:Fleck and marimba.A kool and breezy take on Brahms PRESTO.Track 11: Outstanding Fleck solo for Bach's Prelude from cello suite no.1.Track 13:Paganini's Perpetual Motion.A perfect show off piece.Track 14:banjo and mandolin take on a Scarlatti sonata.Track 15:banjo and bass.Perfect.Even Bach would shake a leg.Track 16:The much played Moonlight sonata of Beethoven;here with banjo,cello and bass.The cello gives the work a very dark,rich feel.Very tense and brooding.Track 18:The highlight of the cd.Fleck and master classical guitarist John Williams do it duet style on Beethoven's "God save the king" variations,originally written for solo piano.They play off of each other perfectly. Without a doubt one of the best discs of the year.Don't hesitate.
Another magical crossover! November 10, 2001
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
In times when we see many classical musicians crossing over into popular music it is refreshing to see someone like Bela Fleck moving from pop to classical. There is a delightful group of folks flitting like fireflies from one genre to another, pulling and tugging us along as they explore the possibilities. Fleck is one of them. I first heard Fleck in Anchorage about four or five years ago and loved the funky,energetic sound of the Flecktones. Listening to his performances on various CDs I've come to appreciate both his playing and his compositions--and have especially enjoyed being introduced to the musical inventiveness of not only Fleck, but also others such as Mike Marshall, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, Jerry Douglas, Darol Anger, Mark O'Connor, Yo Yo Ma, and Joshua Bell. Like Fleck they refuse to be categorized. Then, just as I was beginning to think I could fit Fleck into some kind of category, he whizzes off in a new direction. This is an enchanting CD that will hopefully introduce Fleck fans to the joys of classical music. The earliest music is perhaps the best on this CD, particularly the Bach. The banjo and the mandolin raced at blinding speeds, but stayed true to the clean, spare intelligence of the compositions. Each instrument provided unique color and texture and some surprises as they interpreted these mostly familiar short pieces. A few pieces were not as well served by this unusual chamber group, but they were still enjoyable. All in all a pleasant collection that hopefully will introduce Fleck's audience to the delights of classical music.
Mind-bending finger-numbing work. November 9, 2001
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
Prediction: This new "Perpetual Motion" compilation by Fleck and friends will win a Grammy for best classical crossover album. By a - if you'll excuse the expression - country mile.
Bela Fleck, sometimes whimsically called "the Bartok of the banjo" (his full given name is Bela Anton Leos Fleck, for composers Bartok, Dvorak and Janacek) is - on this new album - "the Bach of the banjo" for nearly half of its 20 tracks. Collaborating with an all-star group of classical and roots musicians, Bela has come up with a delightful surprise of an album. Made up of - more or less - equal parts good cheer, tasteful and fitting arrangements of classical chamber music for novel groups of instruments, and just plain down and dirty fun, this album is sure to appeal to both "traditional" Fleck fans and classical music lovers of all stripes.
Once again, as on some previous projects, Fleck's main artisitc partner in the enterprise is Edgar Meyer (that man who can do absolutely anything with a string bass), whose roles here include not only instrumental contributions but repertoire suggestions and arrangements as well. The two of them team up to good effect in Bach's Two-Part Invention No. 6, BWV 777, and, with Edgar on piano, in a more-or-less "straight" version of Paganini's "Moto Perpetuo."
Of the other collaborators on this album (and there are several, including classical guitarist John Williams, cellist Gary Hoffman and mandolinist Chris Thile), special mention must go to percussionist Evelyn Glennie on marimba, for her delicately-shaded work on several of the Bach Inventions, and to Joshua Bell on violin (and Hoffman on cello) for a ravishing take on Debussy's "Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum" from his Children's Corner suite. The latter is one of my favorite tracks on the album, and I'm not even a particular fan of Bell; he is simply perfect in this piece.
What would a Bela Fleck album be without some REALLY sidesplitting hot licks? Those who desire this "Fleck fix" need not worry; there are two tracks fitting this description: an arrangement for banjo and classical guitar of Beethoven's "Seven Variations on `God Save the King'," and, to wrap the album up, a bluegrass version of the Paganini title work.
Will my Grammy prediction come true? Who knows? The prediction could certainly be confounded if the appropriate NARAS Grammy nominating committee decides that Mark O'Connor's new album, "The American Seasons," is categorized as "classical crossover," leading to the possibility of a deadlocked vote. So why don't you just go out and try Mark's new album as well, and cover your bases?
Great stuff, this mind-bending finger-numbing work by Bela and his buddies.
Bob Zeidler
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