It was almost six years ago to the day that Bela Fleck and the Flecktones played at the Flynn Center and, through their good-natured stage presence and keen collective musical instincts, conjured up all the convivial air of the holiday season.
Aided and abetted by some special guests on 12/9/2025, the band achieved that same elusive end in the midst of a much more elaborate stage production. Once and future Flecktone wind instrumentalist Jeff Coffin’s vigorous blowing on the appropriately chosen opener, “Next,” set a tone for a performance in which the spontaneity of the moment, the Flecktones’ stock-in-trade, more often than not gave way to a carefully (overly?) choreographed presentation.
Effusive praise of their respective introductions of each other, the musicians made little of the festive theme of this Jingle All The Way tour, wisely relying on the near sold-out audience to recognize the perennial tunes as they played. In the end, most of the 2008 album from which this late-year jaunt takes its name was included, including an excerpt from Peanuts, in the form of “Christmas Time Is Here” (the aforementioned record was recently remastered and reissued).
The eight musicians adopted an inclusive stance, time after time over nearly three hours, striking notes of joy not just through their well-honed musicianship but also through their camaraderie with one another and, in turn, through the connection they established with the concertgoers.
Least of all the contributors to the festivities was Alash, the trio of Tuvan throat-singers/instrumentalists who appeared abruptly–as if three wise men?– toward the end of the first set. After thus amplifying the drama arising from “The Twelve Days of Christmas”–rendered in a dozen different keys and a dozen time signatures–the Russian ensemble drew multiple standing ovations, not just by their interactions with the core quintet, but also during their own spotlight on stage; the exotic sounds they drew from their voices and instruments lent provocative novelty to otherwise linear progressions in tunes such as “O Come All Ye Faithful.”
Fortunately, most of those tunes were seasoned with at least a few dollops of improvisation. Fleck’s short duet with mandolinist/vocalist Sierra Hull was a case in point, as was his solo segment (which recalled his appearance in this same venue with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra in the autumn of 2024).
During both interludes, these dexterous instrumentalists made music rather than just flaunting their formidable technical skills. In keeping with the carefully devised setlist, however, the pair’s time at center stage was the means to an end: a longer interval involving some intricate embroidery on “Jingle Bells.”
At the homestretch in the second of two sets, a somewhat more down-to-earth atmosphere arose after Bela Fleck self-deprecatingly introduced “Flight of the Cosmic Hippo.” The segue to “Stomping Grounds” proved to be one of the few outright (yet fleeting) instances of near-pure bluegrass of the evening, so it was not all that surprising that Hull then took over lead vocals on ” I Want for Christmas is A Hippopotamus,” ever so vividly evoking the whimsy at the heart of so much Flecktones’ music.
The octet attained an almost orchestral grandeur at certain junctures after that point, no doubt the reason so many of the audience (but not all) stopped to watch and listen some more, even as they departed. Those who proceeded outside into the light falling snow missed the quietly reflective moments near the very end of “Shanti.” This passage seemed like nothing so much as the performers proffering an unspoken benediction from the stage.
If nothing else, the gesture rang as true as the singalong on “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” Led by drummer/percussionist Futureman, it was a less crowd-pleasing, but more genuine expression than the (over?) extended solo conducted by his brother, bassist Victor Wooten, at the outset of the show.
During the quiet moments just prior, it was hard not to wonder if Fleck and/or his longstanding bandmates (plus certain of those present) were reflecting upon their history with the Queen City (most of which featured original ‘Tone Howard Levy, who was unable to make this tour due to health issues).
Accordingly, it is not implausible to consider this band, in some form, offering a run of shows in the Green Mountains in the future, if not in recognition of a holiday, then perhaps another band milestone (their forty-year anniversary?). The celebratory mood that pervaded the venerable room this December evening is no fait accompli. Still, on this early winter occasion, Bela and the Flecktones proved how many different means are at their disposal to reach that rarefied state of mind.
