Bela Fleck Brings his Banjo to Central Park

Musicians are accustomed to touring in support of a new album. But on Monday Bela Fleck, the banjo player best known for his work with the band Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, performed at Summerstage in New York to highlight a new album and film. Alongside Toumani Diabate, a West African master of the kora, a 21-string harp-lute, Fleck performed for about an hour before a screening of the documentary film, "Throw Down Your Heart," which explores the birthplace of his instrument. (The banjo has its origins in Africa, and Fleck traveled to the continent to study the instrument's history and collaborate with native musicians.) Sitting on a chair center stage, Fleck, a New York native, performed songs from the film while occasionally leaning into the microphone to talk to the audience of about several hundred people. At one point in the evening, Fleck and Diabate jammed to the bluegrass classic "Dueling Banjos," which brough laughs from the crowd. The two are on tour in the US with a stop in Canada for the Edmonton Folk Festival. (Troy McMullen)