Little Worlds is the latest three disc extravaganza from the master of the banjo, Bela Fleck, and his band of jazz maniacs, the Flecktones. It is also available in a scaled down single disc version, but Green Man Review has gone for the gusto with the deluxe set.

A child prodigy, Fleck has been winning banjo contests since he was knee-high to the proverbial grasshopper. Rather than allow his choice of instrument to limit him to one kind of music, he joined with the Flecktones to take the banjo into realms never before dreamed of by the children of Scruggs. Little Worlds is like a ticket to exotic places with Mr. Fleck and associates as our tour guides.

The Flecktones are greater than the sum of their parts. Victor Lemonte Wooten plays bass; electric, fretless and upright. He is amazing, wandering, bouncing but holding the bottom end in his solid grip. Jeff Coffin plays a variety of saxes, clarinets and flute. Very tasty. Future Man (no relation to Manfred Mann) is the drummer and vocalist, and adds a bit of scat, some rap, and the odd noise here and there. Bela Fleck plays banjos, acoustic and electtric, like you've never heard.

The first disc starts off with a tribute to Bill Monroe (the Godfather of Bluegrass) entitled "Bill Mon." You wouldn't expect it to be a straight bluegrass cut would you? Well, it isn't. Guest Cyrus Niccore plays didjeridoo, and Fleck plays electric synth banjo! Whew. This is followed by everyone's favourite banjo tune, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett." But this time old Jed's moved to the other side of the moon! Sam Bush joins on mandolin, Bobby McFerrin and Divinity add vocals, and Sara Watkins plays fiddle. "Longitude" is a duet between Wooten and Fleck. This is a democracy and everybody gets time. The original tunes are melodic but make use of jazz structures. The album is filled with space. It sounds glorious played loud!

The second disc offers more of the same with such guests as McFerrin, The Chieftains, and Branford Marsallis joining for a solo here and there. Marsalis has never been afraid to stretch out into other genres, and he fits in well with the flexible Flecktones. "Captive Delusions" is a Marsalis/Coffin sax duet! Bela's banjo is unbelievable adaptable. You will be stunned by the range of this instrument which in other hands always basically sounds the same. Jerry Douglas adds a touch of Dobro and lap steel to "Poindexter," but you still can't call it bluegrass music.

Disc three continues on beginning with a piano solo by Future Man called "The Cave." A RoyEl piano that is! "The RoyEl" is an instrument shaped like a piano which Future Man invented. This music played on it employs the power and science of Mother Nature to attain the natural ratios of the Golden Means (Phi) and the keyboard is styled after the table of the periodic elements. It's no accident, he said, that the RoyEl resembles a keyboard since "More and more I see the piano like a drum set and the drum set like a piano." Hmmm! Sounds neat though. Next is..."Next" a piece which features Wooten's bass, cello and keyboard; guitar from Subasch Chandram; Ganesh Kumar on kanjira; and Tuvan throat singer Congar Ol Ondar and the rest of the Flecktones playing tight jazzy music.

Little Worlds concludes with a fourteen minute jam called "The Last Jam" which adds the bluesy guitar of Derek Trucks to the mix. Yankees' outfielder Bernie Williams plays guitar, Jake Shimabukuro plays ukulele, Joe Wooten adds Theremin, Jerry Douglas Dobro, and some more didjeridoo from Niccore on this long abstract piece. Beautiful. It's a long journey, but this visit to our own little world, pays some dividends.