If you don't know, Bela Fleck is an amazing banjo player who started out in bluegrass and moved and moved into jazz. He usually works with a group of brilliant musicians called the Flecktones. The documentary is subtitled: Bringing the Banjo Back to Africa.
It's basically a travelogue/music documentary of Bela in Africa (Uganda, Tanzania, Gambia and Mali) playing with local musicians and singers.
To quote Jon Stewart talking about Bruce Springsteen, do you like joy? It's just a lovely, happy, JOYFUL journey, with all kinds of wonderful characters and music and scenery and a little history.
Then Bela and the director Sascha Palladino (also Bela's brother apparently) did some Q & A about the movie. After that, Bela took out his guitar, and sat down on the stage of the Roxie, three rows in front of us and played a piece on the banjo. RIGHT THERE.
Hubby had brought his one banjo and he went up and asked Bela to sign it, which he did. Based on the movie and his demeanour so close and seeing him in a few other documentaries and live concerts, I gotta say that Bela Fleck is pretty much the nicest guy in the world.
Did I mention that this all happened around the corner from my apartment?
God, I love living in San Francisco!
P.S. Speaking (as I was, briefly) of Jon Stewart...was the Cramer interview not AMAZING. I can't decide if Cramer was being a pussy or a pussy-cat, but Jon's preperation and righteous anger was awesome. "THIS SONG IS NOT ABOUT YOU!!!"
