Bela Fleck, Edmar Castaneda, & Antonio Sanchez Set BEATrio Debut LP
Listen to the first single now.
By: Josh Sharpe Mar. 19, 2025
BEATtrio (“Beat trio”), the all-star band featuring Fleck, harpist Edmar Castañeda and drummer Antonio Sánchez, will release its self-titled debut album on May 16 (Béla Fleck Productions / Thirty Tigers). US, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Europe & UK tour dates are on sale now, including the Big Ears Festival, Telluride, Seoul Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz, Pori Jazz, and more. Listen to the first single below.
Formed in 2024, BEATrio found its sound during a special twelve-show run at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village, where the band fearlessly explored new, original music, most of it collaboratively written. “Each night felt like an adventure,” says Castañeda, “and it was special to see the audience experience the music’s evolution.” Or as Fleck puts it, “We were hanging on for dear life. Things were going right, things were going wrong — everything was happening.”
“After playing a duo concert with Edmar, it became clear that we needed to write together, in order to accommodate the needs of harp and banjo,” says Fleck. “This is our first attempt—sometimes you get lucky, before you think too much about it!”
By the end of the Blue Note run, BEATrio had locked into a sort of telepathy, as well as a system for covering all the necessary musical ground. “I play the groove with my left hand with Antonio,” says Castañeda, “while at the same time I play melodies and harmonies with my right hand and with Béla — a very fun challenge that makes a unique and powerful trio.”
“Edmar has quite a bit of responsibility in this particular case,” Sánchez adds, “because he functions as the harmony and the bass.” Indeed, Castañeda sends the bottom frequencies of his harp through a proper bass rig onstage, so the low end is always present. The drummer goes on to call Castañeda “the glue between the banjo and the drums.”
BEATrio Tour Dates
March 24 Minneapolis, MN The Dakota
March 25 Minneapolis, MN The Dakota
March 27 Knoxville, TN Big Ears Festival
March 29 San Francisco, CA Presidio Theatre
March 30 San Francisco, CA Presidio Theatre
May 11 Tarrytown, NY Tarrytown Music Hall
May 12 Lebanon, NH Lebanon Opera House
May 13 Princeton, NJ McCarter Theatre
May 14 Norfolk, VA Virginia Arts Festival
May 15 Charlotte, NC Carolina Theatre
May 16 Bentonville, AR FreshGrass
May 22 Seattle, WA Jazz Alley
May 23 Seattle, WA Jazz Alley
May 24 Seattle, WA Jazz Alley
May 25 Seattle, WA Jazz Alley
May 28 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note Tokyo
May 28 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note Tokyo
May 29 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note Tokyo
May 30 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note Tokyo
June 1 Seoul, South Korea Seoul Jazz Festival
June 17 Winnipeg, MB Winnipeg Jazz Festival
June 19 Boulder, CO Chautauqua Auditorium
June 21 Telluride, CO Telluride Bluegrass Festival
June 22 Telluride, CO Telluride Bluegrass Festival
July 5 Timișoara, Romania JAZZx
July 9 London, UK Cadogan Hall
July 10 London, UK Cadogan Hall
July 12 Rotterdam, NL North Sea Jazz Festival
July 17 Pori, FI Pori Jazz Festival
August 1 Skaneateles, NY Skaneateles Festival
About Béla Fleck
19-time Grammy winner Béla Fleck—the world's premier banjo virtuoso and a celebrated musical adventurer—has both explored his instrument's complex global history and unlocked the breadth of its possibilities, from his bluegrass beginnings through his otherworldly Flecktones, his duo with Chick Corea, and his reimagining of Rhapsody in Blue (2024). He has written and performed three banjo concertos and traced the African origins of the banjo with the award-winning documentary Throw Down Your Heart. His Grammy-winning album My Bluegrass Heart, is named in honor of his friend and hero Chick Corea (My Spanish Heart). In 2025, Béla and Chick earned a Grammy for their final duo album, Remembrance.
About Edmar Castañeda
The renowned harpist hails from Bogotá, Colombia, and has led his own bands in addition to sharing projects with such masters as Hiromi, Paquito D’Rivera and Grégoire Maret. Ushered into the jazz community by Paquito D’Rivera, Castañeda brings forth a brilliance that beautifully merges the jazz tradition and beyond. “His technique is the real astonishment,” describes NPR Fresh Air.
About Antonio Sánchez
Five-time Grammy winner Antonio Sánchez grew up in Mexico City and built a reputation as one of the great jazz drummers through his work with guitarist Pat Metheny. He’s also 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 drum-set score for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2014 film Birdman earned him renown far outside the jazz world.
Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez
Comments
Videos