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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: $9.98
You Save: $8.00 (44%)
Buy New/Used from $5.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (44 reviews)
Sales Rank: 3373
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:
| Showing reviews 41-44 of 44 | | « PREV 1 ... | | |
 Classical Banjo an Oxymoron? NO! October 10, 2001
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
I bought this CD on the strength of a very positive review in the Chicago Tribune a few weeks prior to its release. I am both a classical music and a bluegrass fan, and I think, for the most part, this disc is fantastic -- the most successful attempt to merge the banjo and classical music to date. (Yes, there have been others!) I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could, or an A-.
On the positive side: If anyone has the chops to pull this off, Fleck does. His technical proficiency is mind-boggling, but his virtuosity never draws undue attention to itself. His instrument is miked a bit distant and echoey for my taste, but that was probably done to minimize the twang. In addition, even in the lively pieces, his touch is on the light side, probably for the same reason. The Bach & Scarlatti pieces fare best, in the sense that the pieces sound like they could have been originally written for the banjo. The more "romantic" pieces that might rely more on rubato and the piano pedal for maximum expressiveness, such as the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, just sound odd to me, despite the beautiful duet arrangement. In fact, nearly all of the contributing musicians here do a remarkably sensitive job in putting the banjo in a more comfortably classical context.
I've heard other attempts at "classical banjo" before, and the overwhelming impression I've gotten was that they shouldn't have bothered. On this disc, after the first few seconds where you might be thinking the same thing, that initial impression vanishes quickly, and you're just struck by the sheer inventiveness and musicality of it all.
 Bluegrassical! October 6, 2001
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Bela Fleck's newest CD is an ensemble of classical pieces re-worked for traditional bluegrass instruments. Bela is joined by Chris Thile-mandolinist from Nickel Creek, Edgar Meyer-bassist and pianist who colloborated previously with Bela on Strength In Numbers, as well as a number of other musicians(guitar, violin, piano, etc.- I forget their names forgive me). Fleck and friends intrepret the work of famous composers - Chopin, Bach, Debussy, Beethoven and etc.- marvelously. The tough part for these fine musicians in this case was to re-work the music for their own instruments. This proved daunting for them considering the music was not written with these instruments in mind. They proved up to the challenge and the result is this wonderful classical album. The concept of playing classical music using traditionally bluegrass instruments proves to be a great idea. I think it sounds wonderful to hear such beautiful pieces of music played with these instruments. It is highly recommended for those who liked Strength In Numbers or any kind of classical music in general.
Perpetually Amazing October 4, 2001
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
Ok, lets see here. Bela Fleck has mastered bluegrass, was one of the pioneers of newgrass, released a beautiful CD with Indian and Chinese musicians, and... oh yeah, all those records with the Flecktones crossing almost every genre of music.Now we get to hear Bela take a serious look into classical music. I was a bit skeptical that he could pull this one off. Granted he has an amazing track record listed above, but that is exactly what made me skeptical. Classical music takes an entirely different approach then all of the other things he has played. Improv pretty much goes out the window, there is no "groove", and there is a much larger focus on the subtleties of dynamics and rhythm. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. For what it is, this record is amazing! I know some classical purists will not find this disc very interesting, as most of the works that were chosen for this disc concentrate more on technique and less on emotion, but as I said, for what it is, it is amazing. This album is heavy on Bach, Chopin, and other composers whose works are very "symmetrical", for lack of a better term. These pieces are almost like technical exercises, with passages played in a very exact manner. What makes the disc so strong is that Bela conquers the technique challenge so easily. The picking he displays is amazingly fluid, and bears with it a gorgeous tone. The name sake of the disc, a tune by Paganini, is jaw dropping. To hear a banjo rip through a million notes a second with such clarity is an absolute delight. The second strength of the album is the arrangements of the pieces. The configurations of instruments are picked very well to create wonderful atmosphere. One of my favorite examples of this is percussionist Evelyn Glennie playing the marimba on a number of Bach Inventions. On some tracks the marimba brings almost a calypso feel, while other tracks, such as the Two-Part Invention No. 13, it is haunting when combined with the banjo. I was very impressed to hear Chris Thile on mandolin. Knowing he is quite young, and from the "bluegrass side", I felt he did a very good job adding to the music. His role is similar to Mike Marshall's from Edgar Meyer's "Uncommon Ritual", and he plays just as well as Mr. Marshall. Most of the tunes clock around or under 3 minutes, but there is one 9 minute tune of Beethoven's 7 variations of "God Save the King" with guitarist John Williams. To have some romance, there also is a nice take on Beethoven's "Adagio sostenuto" from "Moonlight" Sonata. There is also a little fun with a bluegrass version of Moto Perpetuo with the incredible guitarist Bryan Sutton I think what Bela Fleck has done and is doing for the banjo and for music in general will be looked on in many years as some of the most imaginative and exciting work of our time. The chances he takes and the mastery in which he plays belongs only to the rarest of musicians. This album is another step in that amazing journey. Beautiful, hypnotic, and technically dazzling.
Beautiful!!! October 3, 2001
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
The music on this CD doesn't exactly have a groove like Bela Fleck's other CD's, but this is not a bad thing. These songs are simply beautiful! I love Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, and this CD shows what they are capable of. If you like this CD, check out Uncommon Ritual by Meyer. Perpetual Motion is a technical wonder and while technicality doesn't always mena it's good to listen to, it does by all means on this CD. Very relaxing and incredible.
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