Music for Two

Disc 1
1	Bug Tussle 4:55
2	Invention No. 10, BMV 796 0:53
3	Pile-Up 6:55
4	Prelude No. 24, BMV 869 2:59
5	Solar 3:59
6	Blue Spruce 8:45
7	Canon 4:27
8	The One I Left Behind 5:00
9	Menuett I-II, BMV 825 2:11
10	Prelude No. 2, BMV 847 1:39
11	Palmyra 10:32
12	The Lake Effect 3:15
13	Largo (From Sonata) 3:11
14	Allegro Vivace (From Sonata) 1:13
15	Wrong Number 2:59
16	Woolly Mammoth 7:44
17	Wishful Thinking 2:56
Disc 2
1	Obstinato: Making Music for Two Bonus DVD / Documentary Film 40:00
2	Green Slime Bonus DVD / Audio Track 5:25
3	Happy Drum Drum Monkey Girl Bonus DVD / Audio Track 6:50

Barnes & Noble

In an interview for Barnes & Noble.com, banjoist Béla Fleck said that he and bassist Edgar Meyer intend to build a repertoire for their unusual combination of instruments that they can continue to develop for the rest of their lives. Well, they're off to a great start on Music for Two, recorded live in venues across the U.S. during a series of concert tours. Both artists are comfortable playing in a variety of styles, and they offer a wide spectrum of music: from Baroque-era classical selections (with an emphasis on Bach) to Fleck's jazz-influenced compositions and Meyer's bluegrass-flavored concoctions. Yet somehow, despite the lack of stylistic barriers, Music for Two hangs together astonishingly well. Even Miles Davis's "Solar" fits right in. How do they do it? Insight is provided by way of a bonus DVD featuring the documentary Obstinato: Making Music for Two by Fleck's brother Sascha Paladino. Tension rises as the two grapple with Meyer's tricky Canon, trying to get a decent take before the tour ends and the tape stops rolling. If you had romantic notions about a musician's life on the road, this short film plainly shows just how grueling it actually is. Watch the DVD and you'll hear the music differently. Though they have been friends for some 20 years and have recorded together before -- Fleck made a guest appearance on Meyer's Uncommon Ritual and Meyer returned the favor on Fleck's Perpetual Motion -- this was their first intensive, large-scale collaboration. All together, it's is a musical/cinematic experience not to be missed. Andrew Farach-Colton

All Music Guide

Banjo player supreme Béla Fleck and bassist Edgar Meyer make for a fascinating and daring duo, and they appear to be at their best live, as this esoteric disc shows. While there are plenty of original compositions from both pens, they also tackle several pieces by Bach, a wonderful Henry Eccles sonata, and some Miles Davis -- gadding about all over the shop. It works primarily because they put no restrictions on the possibilities of the instruments, but sheer skill certainly helps, from the wicked alacrity of "Bug Tussle" to the near competition of "Woolly Mamouth." There's even a delicious sense of humor, as "Wrong Number" is interrupted by what seems to be an errant cell phone -- but which turns out to be a sample that returns and returns to act like a punctuation in the piece. Meyer takes to the piano for part of "Palmyra," proving surprisingly adept, while Fleck shows his chops to full effect on "The One I Left Behind." For this album he depends more on virtuosity than any electric trickery, and he's good enough to pull it off with no problem, as on "The Lake Effect." Meyer is more than a foil, though; he looms large throughout, whether plucking or bowing the bass. However you want to categorize this disc, it's music of the highest order. Chris Nickson