Béla Fleck & The Flecktones just released all the stops on their three-week tour with 16 dates spanning across August this summer, adding to the six previously announced dates announced in March. Bassist Victor Wooten, multi-instrumentalist Howard Levy, and percussionist Futureman (Roy Wooten) will make up the Flecktones joining Fleck this August. For many of the upcoming Béla Fleck & The Flecktones dates, the band will join forces with Chick Corea Elektric Band (consisting of John Patitucci, Frank Gambale, Eric Marienthal, and Dave Weckl), solidifying their co-headlined August tour that was announced back in November of last year.
Béla Fleck and Chick Corea are no strangers to collaboration, with legendary jazz banjoist and pianist frequently touring together with one another in the past and teaming up for the 2007 shared studio album The Enchantment, which won a Latin Grammy, and its respective live album Two, which was released in 2015. However, this tour is different, with both jazz virtuosos will be bringing their own bands along with them for the ride. For the co-billed performances, each act will perform individually, though are expected to combine for collaborative encores at each stop.
The tour is welcome news to Flecktones fans, who saw Béla Fleck & The Flecktones disband following their their summer 2012 tour for a lengthy hiatus. Though the group reconvened last summer for an extensive reunion tour, following the four-year drought, in our eyes, the more Flecktones the better. Fleck & The Flecktones hit the road on August 2nd with solo dates in Pittsburgh and Brooklyn ahead of their performance at Newport Jazz Festival on August 4th. From there, the crew meets up with Chick Corea Elektric Band for a number of Northeast dates. The joint tour heads west on August 12th with a performance at Michigan’s Lottery Amphitheatre before winding its way across the Midwest with stops in Ohio, Colorado, Utah, eventually ending with three dates in California from August 18th through 20th.
The full touring schedule and tickets are available here on the Flecktones website. You can also watch the video below of Fleck and Corea rehearsing their song “Mountain” to get ready for August!
Béla Fleck & The Flecktones August Tour
Aug 2 – Munhall, PA – Carnegie Music Hall
Aug 3 – Brooklyn, NY – BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival
Aug 4 – Newport, RI – Newport Jazz Festival
Aug 5 – Albany, NY – Palace Theater
Aug 6 – Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap – The Filene Center
Aug 8 – Red Bank, NJ -Count Basié Theater
Aug 9 – Kennett Square, PA – Longwood Gardens
Aug 10 – Geneva, NY – Smith Opera House
Aug 11 – Chautaqua, NY – Chautauqua Institute
Aug 12 – Sterling Heights, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill
Aug 13 – Cincinnati, OH – PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center
Aug 15 – Denver, CO – Denver Botanic Gardens
Aug 16 – Salt Lake City, UT – Red Butte
Aug 18 – Santa Rosa, CA – Green Center
Aug 19 – Saratoga, CA – Mountain Winery
Aug 20 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theatre