Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda, Antonio Sánchez Trio

To be sure, the new all-star trio of Béla Fleck, harpist Edmar Castañeda and drummer Antonio Sánchez features instrumentation that might safely be called unusual. Unless, of course, you’re already familiar with 19-time Grammy Award-winner Fleck, the genre-blurring virtuoso who has done more to expand the possibilities of the banjo than any other player in the instrument’s history. From his bluegrass beginnings through his otherworldly Flecktones, his duo with Chick Corea and his reimagining of Rhapsody in Blue, Fleck’s work never fails to surprise. What doesn’t surprise is the impeccable calibre of his collaborators — and this trio includes two of the most gifted musicians of their generation.

Casteñada, who hails from Bogotá, Colombia, has singlehandedly cemented the harp’s place in jazz with his innovative approach to the instrument and his collaborations with such music titans as Wynton Marsalis, Paco de Lucia, John Scofield, Ricki Lee Jones and Paquito D’Rivera. 5-time Grammy winner Sánchez hails from Mexico City and built a reputation as one of the great jazz drummers through his work with guitarist Pat Metheny. He has also been a visionary bandleader, helming progressive groups like Bad Hombre, and collaborated with Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker and other giants. His Golden Globe-nominated (and Grammy winning) score for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2014 film Birdman earned him renown far outside the jazz world.

BEATrio found its sound during a special twelve-show run at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village, New York City in 2024, where the group fearlessly explored new, original music, most of it collaboratively written. Now the group embarks nightly on explorations that audiences will find irresistible – rich with strong melodies, gorgeous harmonies and sinuous grooves. Unmissable.