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The Flecktones bring unique sound to Tucson

How many musicians have been nominated for Grammy awards in jazz, pop, country, bluegrass, spoken word, Christian, world music and composition categories?

Which video is the only one ever played on VH1, CMT, and BET simultaneously?

Who has performed with Dave Matthews, Jerry Garcia, Spinal Tap, Phish and the Chieftains?

All these questions can be answered in one name - Bela Fleck.

Fleck and his band, appropriately named the Flecktones, will play two shows on Saturday at the Temple of Music and Art. The two-hour sets will begin at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., where the Flecktones will play their unique music.

The music is indescribable. The description is almost like Lou Bega's hit - a little bit of jazz, a little bit of pop, a little bit of country and so on. Throw in rock, folk, bluegrass and classical, and that's almost a complete description.

But who are these guys? Aside from the nationwide subculture that follows their music, most people could recognize them from their guest appearances.

Think back to Dave Matthews' MTV Video Music Awards performance on Sept. 10. Do you remember that banjo player? Yes, it was Bela Fleck.

After the performance, The New York Post wrote that, "Fleck is one of the most renowned banjo pickers in the world...his performance with this acoustic-oriented band hopefully will earn him a much-deserved audience."

In addition to this performance, Fleck also toured with Dave Matthews in Boston, New York and Nashville.

Although Fleck receives many of the accolades for the band's performance and notoriety, the two other members are also accomplished musicians.

Only one person has ever won Bass Player Magazine's "Bass Player of the Year," and it was neither Primus' Les Claypool nor Paul McCartney. This honor was achieved by Victor Wooten, bass player of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.

The bands percussionist, Future Man, even invented a new instrument. He created the Synth-Axe Drumitar, which is a guitar-shaped percussion machine that incorporates tonal and persuasive sounds accessed from finger pads.

In an interview with Billboard, Fleck discussed the movement of the band's musical difference from the norms in the industry.

"We wanted to have a different approach because we felt that we had pretty much documented the way the band sounded when we followed that rule ... we threw away those restrictions, and the rules were, 'Any instrument that the four of us could come up with to play, we could do.'"

The most notable deviation from the musical norm is certainly Fleck's usage of the banjo, an obvious omission from most of today's pop bands.

After touring with Dave Matthews last year, Newsday lauded Fleck's performance.

"The familiar patterns were ripped apart when ... banjomaster Bela Fleck performed."