Remastered for maximum fidelity, and repressed on cobalt blue vinyl. Limited to 900 copies. How many albums virtually upend a genre? And how many erstwhile bluegrass bands top a contemporary jazz chart? ! The answer to these questions, is, one, very few, and two, only Béla Fleck & the Flecktones! Their second album, 1991’s fancifully entitled Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, did indeed top Billboard’s contemporary jazz albums chart and scored a couple of Grammy noms. But more importantly, this record really made explicit the Flecktones’ bebop leanings, as they devised the term “Blu-Bop” to describe their unique fusion of bluegrass and jazz. Stylistic whiplash has never felt so good or sounded so sweet; check out their warm, instrumental wizardry on chestnuts like “Michelle” and “The Star Spangled Banner”. And don’t miss Béla’s banjo power chords on Turtle Rock! Flight of the Cosmic Hippo. The Star Spangled Banner. Star of the County Down. Jekyll and Hyde(and Ted and Alice). Hole in the Wall. Flight of the Cosmic Hippo (Reprise).
