In Conversation At Melbourne Recital Centre

A rare up-close and personal discussion with banjoists Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn Banjoists Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn have mastered the deceptively intricate art of the duet. Their performances embrace a diversity almost unthinkable – coming from just two banjos and one voice. Fleck, a 15-time Grammy winner, has collaborated with Chick Corea, Oumou Sangare, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer, Dave Mathews, Earl Scruggs, and the entire Cleveland Orchestra for his Banjo Concert ‘The Impostor’. Washburn’s banjo has taken her far beyond the usual old-timey comfort zone, musically and geographically. An alumnus of Uncle Earl, the powerhouse all-female string-band, Abby’s adopted second homeland is China, and her music resounds with echoes of Appalachia and the tidal wave of emerging Chinese cultural influence. Together, Fleck and Washburn employ the relatively rare 3-finger and claw hammer banjo duet to create an explosion of musical white heat. Melbourne Recital Centre presents the opportunity for a rare u