Alex Wright

Throw Down Your Heart

April 27, 2009

In the spirit of Ry Cooder’s Buena Vista Social Club and Paul Simon’s Graceland, banjo wizard Bela Fleck spent several weeks in Africa a few years back, tracking down the banjo’s historical roots and jamming with local musicians in Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali. The result is a new documentary Throw Down Your Heart, now playing for a limited run at the IFC Film Center.

To his credit, Fleck keeps his musical ego in check, largely settling into a background groove and letting the African musicians do their thing. High points for me included a giant 12-foot xylophone played by what seems like an entire village, a glimpse of the akontin (the likely ancestor of the modern banjo), and a gorgeous duet with the ebullient Malian diva Oumou Sangare.

Here’s the trailer:

Fleck and director Sascha Paladino showed up for a Q&A after yesterday afternoon’s screening, capped by an impromptu banjo solo from Bela.

I enjoyed the chance to chat briefly with Bela after the show, whereupon he offered me a piece of advice on my own fledgling efforts at playing the banjo: "Don’t try to go too fast," he said. "Just let it come." Words to live by.

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