Throw Down Your Heart

For those of you who haven't heard of Throw Down Your Heart, it is pretty much the ideal documentary for an any aspiring ethnomusicologist like myself. The film feature Bela Fleck, Banjo extraordinaire (I've had the distinct pleasure of seeing Bela Fleck on two different occasions and each time he was beyond impressive), as Fleck travels to Africa to seek out the roots of the instrument. Seeking to break the stereotype of the banjo as the instrument of the deep south, Fleck travels to Uganda, Tanzania, Gambia, and Mali in order to seek out the evolutionary predecessors.
Rather than focusing on fancy touches like color editing and the like the movie gets right down to the music. Traveling with an entourage consisting of a manager, a sound guy, and a film director, Fleck manages to capture some of the most incredible music moments.

The documentary opens with the sounds of Fleck playing a bluegrass traditional to a crowd of two hundred villagers, all laughing at the exotic melody. During the film he jams with everyone from 8 guys who play a single mallet-type instrument dug into the ground (like a portuguese man-of-ward, 4 organisms in 1) to a group of Masai Mara tribesman who perform a mixture of high jumping and trance-inducing rhythms. Its a blast to watch. One can't help but get the sensation that Fleck, while he can't speak a word to many of the people he plays with, connects on a level that is truly enviable. A real testament to the universality of music.

So go out and Netflix Throw Down Your Hear right away. It won't let you down.

And if you really dig it, Go out and buy Fleck's CD featuring all the recordings from his trip as well as some not included in the dvd.