Throw Down Your Heart

I've known the music of Béla Fleck for most of my life, and have been lucky enough to see him perform multiple times, from an intimate practice/jam session in the Boulder music store HB Woodsongs (back when it was downtown) to the Telluride Town Park stage for multiple years of Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Not to mention a few shows with the Flecktones in Boulder at Chataqua Hall and a stop on the Holiday tour in Beaver Creek at the acoustically spectacular Vilar Center. I'm constantly impressed with Béla's musicianship, creativity and persona on and off stage, and always find his music and performances inspirational on many levels.
After watching "Throw Down Your Heart", a documentary on Bela traveling through Africa and finding the roots of the banjo, my admiration for Bela and his music has grown tremendously. Throughout the journey, Bela plays improvised music with local African musicians, starting in small villages with handmade instruments and outdoor performances/recordings, and ending in a modern city w/manufactured instruments and a recording studio in which he invites his new musician friends and records two albums of music inspired by African culture. It's hard to describe the feeling that's inside every song performed, and many of the interactions between Bela and the African musicians, but it's a feeling of innocents and observation. It's like watching a master learn from his pupil. It's amazing to hear the rawness of the African instruments in the recordings; the scratch of fingernails on the fretboard, the buzz of the metal keys on a hand made kalimba, and the pure vocal resonances of the African singers. Every song is pure and feels like its coming from the connected musicians as much as it's coming out of the air surrounding them. The film is as beautiful as the music, and I quickly watched it again with my girlfriend and loaned it to a friend afterwards. I also bought the albums recorded as part of Bela's series "Tales From the Acoustic Planet" featuring the songs recorded in the studio as well as some recorded in the villages and on location.
This is more than a film, a music album or any other packaged good. It is a journey taken by an inspirational human being that sends a message of unity and equality as well as musicianship and creativity. After watching this documentary and having seen him in many amazing venues already, I still eagerly await the next time I get to see Bela perform and share in the musical air surrounding us.