BEATrio (“Beat trio”), an all-star band featuring the legendary Béla Fleck, harpist Edmar Castañeda and drummer Antonio Sánchez, have shared the second single, “Western and Walnut,” from its self-titled debut album, out May 16 via Béla Fleck Productions / Thirty Tigers.
The trio bookend their summer shows with appearances in Tarrytown and Skaneateles Music Festival.
Fleck shared the evolution of the track that was waiting for the right group to record. “This project kind of reminds me of the early days of the Flecktones, when audiences would go, ‘How is this supposed to work?’” Walnut and Western is a tune I have had for many years that’s been looking for a home, and the right band, I am positive that this is the best setting it could have, and thrilled that I waited! Antonio and Edmar knew exactly what to do.”
Formed in 2024, BEATrio found its sound during a special twelve-show run at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village, where the band fearlessly explored new, original music, much of it collaboratively written. “Each night felt like an adventure,” says Castañeda, “and it was special to see the audience experience the music’s evolution.” As Fleck puts it, “We were hanging on for dear life. Things were going right, things were going wrong — everything was happening.”
“After playing a duo concert with Edmar, it became clear that we needed to write together, in order to accommodate the needs of harp and banjo,” says Fleck. “This is our first attempt—sometimes you get lucky, before you think too much about it!”
By the end of the Blue Note run, BEATrio had locked into a sort of telepathy, as well as a system for covering all the necessary musical ground. “I play the groove with my left hand with Antonio,” says Castañeda, “while at the same time I play melodies and harmonies with my right hand and with Béla — a very fun challenge that makes a unique and powerful trio.”
“Edmar has quite a bit of responsibility in this particular case,” Sánchez adds, “because he functions as the harmony and the bass.” Indeed, Castañeda sends the bottom frequencies of his harp through a proper bass rig onstage, so the low end is always present. The drummer goes on to call Castañeda “the glue between the banjo and the drums.”
19-time Grammy winner Béla Fleck—the world’s premier banjo virtuoso and a celebrated musical adventurer—has both explored his instrument’s complex global history and unlocked the breadth of its possibilities, from his bluegrass beginnings through his otherworldly Flecktones, his duo with Chick Corea, and his reimagining of Rhapsody in Blue (2024).
Edmar Castañeda is a renowned harpist who hails from Bogotá, Colombia, and has led his own bands in addition to sharing projects with such masters as Hiromi, Paquito D’Rivera and Grégoire Maret. Ushered into the jazz community by Paquito D’Rivera, Castañeda brings forth a brilliance that beautifully merges the jazz tradition and beyond.
Antonio Sánchez is a five-time Grammy winner who grew up in Mexico City and built a reputation as one of the great jazz drummers through his work with guitarist Pat Metheny. He’s also a visionary bandleader, helming progressive groups like Bad Hombre, and collaborated with Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker and other giants. His Golden Globe-nominated drum-set score for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2014 film Birdman earned him renown far outside the jazz world.
Listen to “Walnut and Walnut” and the first single, “Archipelago.” Pre-order / pre-save the album here.
BEATrio begins a US tour May 11 in Tarrytown, followed by shows in Japan, Seoul Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Telluride and back to New York for Skaneateles Music Festival.. Tickets are on sale now,
BEATrio Tour Dates
May 11 Tarrytown, NY Tarrytown Music Hall
May 12 Lebanon, NH Lebanon Opera House
May 13 Princeton, NJ McCarter Theatre
May 14 Norfolk, VA Virginia Arts Festival
May 15 Charlotte, NC Carolina Theatre
May 16 Bentonville, AR FreshGrass
May 22 Seattle, WA Jazz Alley
May 23 Seattle, WA Jazz Alley
May 24 Seattle, WA Jazz Alley
May 25 Seattle, WA Jazz Alley
May 28 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note Tokyo
May 28 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note Tokyo
May 29 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note Tokyo
May 30 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note Tokyo
June 1 Seoul, South Korea Seoul Jazz Festival
June 17 Winnipeg, MB Winnipeg Jazz Festival
June 19 Boulder, CO Chautauqua Auditorium
June 21 Telluride, CO Telluride Bluegrass Festival
June 22 Telluride, CO Telluride Bluegrass Festival
July 5 Timișoara, Romania JAZZx
July 9 London, UK Cadogan Hall
July 10 London, UK Cadogan Hall
July 30 Gardenier, ME Johnson Hall
July 12 Rotterdam, NL North Sea Jazz Festival
July 17 Pori, FI Pori Jazz Festival
August 1 Skaneateles, NY Skaneateles Festival
August 2 Newport, RI Newport Jazz
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