o be sure, the new all-star trio of Béla Fleck, harpist Edmar Castañeda and drummer Antonio Sánchez features instrumentation that might safely be called uncommon.

Mike Stern is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums. These Times was originally released in 2004 through ESC Records. The album reached a peak position of number eleven on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart.

Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. "Drive" was produced toward the end of Fleck's New Grass Revival career and before the Flecktones were formed and included an all-star list of bluegrass performers.

Foremost innovator on the banjo, Béla Fleck is joined by Hindustani master V. M. Bhatt and Chinese virtuoso Jie-Bing Chen in a collaboration that begins with a clean slate and culminates in a masterpiece of synthesis. Adding poignant but subtle coloring to this unique work are Hindustani flutist Ronu Majumdar and violinist Sangeeta Shankar, as well the Karnatak percussionist Puvalur Srinivasan on mridangam.

The combination of Bhatt's sultry mohan vina and Fleck's precision banjo work creates unique textures. Add to that the rare quality of Chen's erh-hu and you have the makings of something special.

Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen, Jr. is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist, best known for his work with Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna, and his own bands. It was his first album on a major label since 1980's Barbeque King. Kaukonen didn't write any new compositions for the album, and instead played mostly country-blues cover songs. The album features performances by Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Byron House and Bela Fleck, and was nominated for a Grammy award in 2003 for "Best Traditional Folk Album".

This live album from pianist Chick Corea and banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck compiles material chosen from more than 55 shows, spanning seven years and packed with musical brilliance. Corea and Fleck pored over recordings from every single show and every take to unearth the best-of-the-best, "super-magic" renditions contained here. The track list includes songs from the duo's 2007 Grammy-nominated and Latin Grammy-winning albumThe Enchantment reworked with boundary-stretching improvisation, other Corea and Fleck classics, as well as choice new music added to the repertoire along the way. On "Two", the mutual respect and appreciation of each other’s music come to the fore.