UFO Tofu

UFO Tofu

ASIN: B000002MF7

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
There's a sly wit to every Béla Fleck & the Flecktones album; the foursome of virtuosos takes its progressive fusion of jazz and bluegrass to such extremes (and with such ease), the musicians can't help but smile. "Nemo's Dream" exemplifies the spirit of the group as each member--Fleck on banjo, Howard Levy on piano, Victor Wooten on bass, and Future Man on drum-synth--let loose and have their fun. The title track erupts with a flurry of notes from Fleck and Levy that slowly evolves into intricately patterned quartet interplay. "Magic Fingers" never stops being funky. And "True North" starts out (oddly enough for this crew) with a plaintive, New Agey pennywhistle. "The Yee-haw Factor" returns the disc back to its wild bluegrass roots. One of the Flecktones' very best. --Jason Verlinde

Tracks:

The West County
Sex In A Pan
Nemo's Dream
Bonnie & Slyde
Scuttlebutt
UFO Tofu
Magic Fingers
True North
Life Without Elvis
Seresta
The Yee-Haw Factor
After The Storm

Amazon.com essential recording

There's a sly wit to every Béla Fleck & the Flecktones album; the foursome of virtuosos takes its progressive fusion of jazz and bluegrass to such extremes (and with such ease), the musicians can't help but smile. "Nemo's Dream" exemplifies the spirit of the group as each member--Fleck on banjo, Howard Levy on piano, Victor Wooten on bass, and Future Man on drum-synth--let loose and have their fun. The title track erupts with a flurry of notes from Fleck and Levy that slowly evolves into intricately patterned quartet interplay. "Magic Fingers" never stops being funky. And "True North" starts out (oddly enough for this crew) with a plaintive, New Agey pennywhistle. "The Yee-haw Factor" returns the disc back to its wild bluegrass roots. One of the Flecktones' very best. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

Weighed out with the extras........2007-03-22

One of the myriad of fine material record by the group, this CD saw the last time Howard Levy recorded as a member of the band, marking an the close of the first era of the Flecktones' history. Its material is stylistically very similar to Hippo and the album's sound can be treated more as a continuation of that artistic endeavor instead of a fresher musical approach. This would be a bad thing if the work on hippo wasn't so wonderful. The title track, UFO TOFU, is a brilliant composition which uses motiffs build on palindromes to create cycles of notes that seemingly spiral through each of the phrases. The album as a whole geniusly applies a plethora of well-advanced theoretical ideas to each song. For Fleck fans, theory afficionados, and the general music appreciating consumer.

Spectacular!.......2006-06-23

This album displays an unclassifiable, amazing, virtuosic band playing at their best(Well, maybe not, they're better live)! Bela Fleck takes the banjo to places it has never been before. He moves the instrument beyond bluegrass into such realms as jazz, rock, and funk. He is brilliant and innovative in all these styles and more. In addition, he is a skilled composer, in which he once again spans every style imaginable.

Victor Wooten, the bassist, is by far the best in the world. If you are impressed by Les Claypool, listen to Victor. Claypool is doubtless great, but he cannot come close to the virtuosity displayed by Victor Wooten. He utilizes revolutionary playing techniques to play unbelievable solos, as well as making it sound like multiple bassists are playing.

Howard Levy plays harmonica, piano, whistle, and synthesizer. He frequently plays more than one at a time, and while he is proficient on all of these instruments, he is most impressive on the harmonica. Every time this guy plays harmonica, he wows me. He coaxes sounds from the instrument that it was never designed to play, while making it sound smooth and beautiful.

The groove is anchored by Roy "Futureman" Wooten, who plays both a traditional drum set and his own invention, the Synth Axe Drumitar. The Synth Axe Drumitar is a guitar like instrument that Futureman can use to play virtually any percussive sound. He frequently plays both the Drumitar and a traditional drum kit at the same time.

From the funky bass line of "Sex in a Pan" to the high octane bluegrass of "The Yee Haw Factor" the Flecktones prove that they are an unstoppable band.

Perfect.........2006-02-11

I don't need to say much more than this.... I have thousands of albums in my library (including rock, jazz and classical), and this would have to be a candidate for my favorite album of all time. The song-writing is beautiful and the instrumentation is mind-boggling. Just wonderful music....

Quintessential! This album is magic!.......2004-05-26

There are songs and then there are experiences. When this album came out I was fronting a punk band and booking local acts in my college town. One local act always blew me away, Disco Biscuit. Anyway, my girlfriend was in band with the bass player of this group and I asked to be introduced. Incidentally, we got to talking. He said he liked what I was doing and and I told him that he was the best bass player I had ever met. He stopped me right there and said, "I suck." That was it. I was perplexed. Then he said, "Let me sum it up for you. Listen to this album." And he pulled out UFO Tofu. I listened to it and everything changed. This album takes you to a spiritual space that is unfathomable. This album is like nothing else. After listening to this album, I went from writing songs to sculpting realities. It changed my music, my poetry, my philosphical perspective. What else can I say.

Probably my favorite album.......2003-03-25

I'm 29 yrs old and i've been a huge fan since 1990...but i didnt
buy any of their music until 1992..."ufo tofu" was the first album i bought so it holds a special place in my heart and is probably my favorite album. Every song is a masterpiece...my favs are "true north","nemo's dream","yee-haw factor","west county"&"magic fingers". ha ha..why dont i say the whole album..huh? this is truly one of the greatest albums of recorded
music ever...i advise any music lover to give it a listen it's magically uplifting.

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