Three is not a crowd: Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda and Antonio Sánchez are BEATrio

Banjo, harp and drums are not exactly your typical jazz trio. But Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda and Antonio Sánchez make that combination come alive in a project they call the BEATrio. Sánchez jokes that it might be "the world's most unlikely band."

Their story traces back to 2019, when Fleck and Castañeda shared a duo set at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, captured on video by Jazz Night in America. When Sánchez later invited Fleck to record for a studio project, Castañeda joined the session, and the three quickly discovered how naturally their sounds fit together despite coming from very different musical traditions.

Fleck is a banjo virtuoso who has redrawn the instrument's boundaries across genres. Castañeda has transformed the Colombian harp into an instrument capable of both rhythmic drive and harmonic flexibility. Sánchez is a drummer whose narrative approach to rhythm has made him one of the most distinctive voices on the instrument.

Shervin Lainez /

"When we play together, we lock. It's like one person," Fleck says.

The BEATrio's debut recording, which came out in May, earned a Grammy nomination; a tour begins next year. This episode features music from the trio's self-titled album alongside the Fleck-Castañeda duo performance at Big Ears.

Set List:

1. "Kaleidoscopes" (Antonio Sánchez), from the album BEATrio 
2. "Whispers of Resilience" (Edmar Castañeda), from the album BEATrio 
3. "Three Is Not A Crowd " (Antonio Sánchez), from the album BEATrio 
4. "Hooligan Harbor" (Béla Fleck), from the album BEATrio 
5. "For Jaco" (Edmar Castañeda), recorded live at the 2019 Big Ears festival  
6. "Bamako" (Béla Fleck),  recorded live at the 2019 Big Ears festival
7. "Drumming With The Birds (feat. NATURE)" (Antonio Sánchez), from the single Nature 

Credits:

Host: Christian McBride; Writers and Producers: Sarah Geledi with Billy Robinson; Consulting Senior Producer: Simon Rentner; Mastering: Ron Scalzo; Music Engineer: Mike Sosville; Executive Producer: Steven A. Williams; Executive Producer at NPR Music: Suraya Mohamed; Executive Director of NPR Music: Sonali Mehta.

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