Juno Concerto

Juno Concerto

• Bela Fleck's three-movement concerto, named in honor of his son Juno, was recorded in April with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra

Béla Fleck is the world's premier banjo player, a 16-time Grammy Award winner nominated in more categories than any other musician, a genre-busting collaborator, a film producer and a composer. Foremost, though, he is a dad. The impact of fatherhood on Béla is reflected in Juno Concerto, named for his firstborn son with fellow folk musician Abigail Washburn. The album was recorded with the Colorado Symphony, conducted by José Luis Gomez and also includes two tracks with the Brooklyn Rider string quartet: 'Griff' and the second movement of 'Quintet for Banjo and Strings,' the latter a previously unrecorded collaboration with friend and mentor Edgar Meyer, representing Béla's first experimentation with classical music. The banjo in these movements embodies the voice of doom, interrupting the music with dark, dissonant interjections culminating in a melancholy banjo solo-a contemplative end to the album that reveals Béla's true depth as a composer. Juno Concerto is a reminder that Béla Fleck is among the most innovative and virtuosic musicians of our time.