There will never be another Bela Fleck. He's more than just a banjo player that seems to defy the laws of physics. He's an ambassador of great musicians. Everybody he surrounds himself with shines like gold when they perform with him.
Amen to this! Integrity and generosity and virtuosity are a rare and wonderful alchemy. Jerry Douglas, Alison Krauss, YoYo Ma, Sting, Aoife O'Donovan and Chris Thile are others who have moved me in this manner.
Yes indeed. He's the best possible leader. Saw him just a few months back & he was the inspiration for all involved. I felt special just being there & watching. Sierra Hull was absolutely magical as well. They worked brilliantly together.
The entire Transatlantic sessions were off the charts, fabulous and timeless, beautiful merging of the styles of traditional Irish and American Folk/Bluegrass overtones in perfect unison...it reaches down deep inside and touches your heart in a way that is indescribable....God Bless all here...and there in attendance
If you like this song, and have never been on a road trip, you now have your next vacation planned. This song defines exploration, traversing terrain, and experiencing the rock we all live on.
The Dobro solo totally encapsulates that feeling. Jerry Douglas is a master. I hear a whole story of a boy adventuring the country side outside of his home, growing up, venturing further and further, and finally settling down as an old man with his memories.
Thank you all, good gentlemen for the 1000s of hours of practice and rehersals to make this one of the best 5 minutes and 32 seconds I've spent on RUclips today!!!! Be well!!!! Thank you x 1000!!!
This is by far one of my favorite tunes ever written. My wife and I were married to it and it runs very, very deep. This is an absolutely astounding take on "Big Country". Glorious! If you can't get behind this you've got a heart of stone! Best part; Jerry's solo. Bela gives him the nod and there's just a very quiet reverence about the group as they support. Again, glorious!
We allways play this song in the car on the way south in the summer, to France. My kid loves this song from when he was two. He's seven now. Hearing my transatlantic hero's play this makes just a bit of a tear well in my eyes.
Dude you are awesome. This is the song my wife walked down the aisle to. I love songs like this. So well written and complex that you can't describe them appropriately so you just make them part of your life. :)
Absolutely enthralled by this. Can't stop listening, it's always on repeat. Definitely saved my life a couple times.I hope the flautist gets paid handsomely, he absolutely goes off at 4:47, kills it.
@@eoghancasserly3626 Absolutely! I have my High D and started playing along! Love Bela, how gracious and unassuming he is and how he mixes musical cultures seamlessly!
@@jamesmcdonough7414 I have one of those myself but I'd wager you're 20 times better than me! I can't play it to save my life, I'll stick to the strings 🤣🤣🤣
@@eoghancasserly3626 just rewatching - makes a lot of sense that the instrument isn't a flute. No idea what I was thinking... thank you for correcting me!
dougie hamilton Yes, sweet! The Irish / Scottish / Appalachian circle is unbroken. Béla Fleck, banjo; Aly Bain & John McCusker, fiddle; Jerry Douglas, Dobro; Phil Cunningham, accordion; John Doyle, guitar; Dónal Lunny, Bouzouki; James MacKintosh, percussion; Mike McGoldrick, low whistle; Donald Shaw, piano; Danny Thompson, bass. (From the AllMusic site.)
The pictures this paints in my mind and the atmosphere this song evokes are some of the most vivid and beautiful I've ever experienced. The first time I listened to it, I nearly cried. The second time, I did.
This song (and Bigfoot) has been in my mind for 20 plus years. My entire family is from Scotland and I hear this and all I can picture are the mountains and valleys of the highlands. Bela is a next level storyteller, while not once opening his mouth!
oh my gosh, I literally wept during flux's short dobro solo. and it tells you everything you need to know that bela was entirely content to be in the background til about 3:50 into HIS song. this really causes my soul to soar.
My favorite parts are when the bass plays a solo. Not often you see the bass pick up the lead like that. And the accordion part that goes along with it is so sweet. The guitar solo from Jerry is also great. And then the whistle near the end is just perfect. And finally, the parts Bela plays at the end. A overwhelming crescendo of notes and scales. 10/10. It simply doesn't get any better than this.
This is the song my wife walked down the aisle to. I love songs like this. So well written and complex that you can't describe them appropriately so you just make them part of your life. :)
When someone writes an instrumental, they can name it whatever they want. I don’t know hat Béla was thinking, but to me Big Country is the vast American West.
Bela: A few years too late with this comment! But never the less, I thoroughly enjoy your musicianship! The energy you bestow in your craft is exemplary! Thank You Bela for what you give our ears to listen to!!!
Nicely put. I played to my wife’s pregnant belly every night and my 17 yr old song now sings along to everything I used to play without me ever having to teach him a word....weird and wonderful. Be a good Daddy Zack, it’s well worth it x
This piece strips you from the need to understand, analyze and rationalize music and gives you this upper hand of feeling it so smoothly and easily. A tune so contagious despite of its complexity, and a relay of musical instruments from the banjo, to the stand-up bass, flute, violins, acoustic guitars, and accordion, all of which makes you feel you are part of the ensemble. One instrument takes the tune from the other and passes it to another instrument as if they were a master sports team with an elevated command of the art. And then they build it up to reach a crescendo that makes you want to stand up and scream loudly cheering for scoring a touchdown. What a team! People have used this piece of music on many occasions: weddings, driving in the country side while speeding in a convertible and the wind blowing her hair, new born, and some even requested it to be played at their funeral. A master composition is one that evokes all kinds of feelings, happy, sad, mild and strong with tears of joy and sadness. This one is a great example .
This is always been one of my absolute favorite songs by the Flecktones. While this version lacks the power and (for lack of a better word) majesty of the Flecktones’ version it has a sweetness that literally brings tears to my eyes.
Yes . Bela says that this song came to him in a dream and it was all he could do to get it down before it faded . He says he called his answering machine and hummed the motif and ran with it from there . The great stuff is not created - it's discovered by those worthy of channeling the wellspring of creativity .
Big fan of Danny Thompson on double bass. Love Bela and Jerry too. But really enjoy the silent conversations these guys have when they look at each other, work out breaks and transitions. That’s all the fun and magic of playing together.
OMG. Just beautiful...and that doesn't even go far enough!! My all-time favorite of Bela's and this arrangement just blew me away!!! Brought me to goose bumps and tears! Thank you, Bela and musicians!!
Saw Bela and the Fleck tones along with Phish in SLC in the early '90's. Only part of the seats the hall would hold were set up but they could have saved themselves even this effort, nobody sat down the entire time, we were all dancing our asses off.
I couldn't agree more. I can't tell you why some tunes seem to reach down into my soul and pluck at my heartstrings, even when I haven't heard them anywhere special before. This one is definitely one of those tunes. If I knew I had one day left to live, one day to say my goodbyes and set whatever I could right, then one final sunset to watch before the end, I'd listen to this while I watched it.
True that. This is a song that invokes an overwhelming feeling of majesty and awe. Does that sound a bit over the top? Not in my head. Goosebumps & tears indeed.
This is the music where there are no words to describe it. It is just absolutely perfect and makes me so warm and fuzzy and makes me cry tears of happiness every single time I hear it. Truly an amazing piece of work! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.❤️
What a Stunning tune closed my eyes on second listening it's absolutely brilliant to pick out all the notes of wonderful musicians give us more of the same will listen to this tune for a long time to come
it is an absolute pleasure watching great musicians at the top of their game.Transatlantic sessions was a masterful series full of diverse styles and music and wonderful to watch.
Anyone else keep returning to this video?
Year after year after year
I was thinking the same thing. Probably monthly. Sometimes weekly.
Uh, yup! LOVE this video and love this song. It's an addiction that I refuse to quit!
Hell ya been in my favorites since 2015.
Can’t stop!
This song makes me nostalgic for something I ain't ever had.
Pretty much this
This version of Big Country gives me chills. It's like the song fulfilled its destiny.
Yes indeed. Got what it truly deserved. Just magnificent!
This is undoubtedly my favorite version of the song.
Yes!!!!!!!! Beautifully put.
So much depth and full sound. A thing of beauty
There will never be another Bela Fleck. He's more than just a banjo player that seems to defy the laws of physics. He's an ambassador of great musicians. Everybody he surrounds himself with shines like gold when they perform with him.
Amen to this! Integrity and generosity and virtuosity are a rare and wonderful alchemy. Jerry Douglas, Alison Krauss, YoYo Ma, Sting, Aoife O'Donovan and Chris Thile are others who have moved me in this manner.
Yes indeed. He's the best possible leader. Saw him just a few months back & he was the inspiration for all involved. I felt special just being there & watching. Sierra Hull was absolutely magical as well. They worked brilliantly together.
Has to be one of the greatest and most under appreciated pieces of music ever written. The poor mainstream crowd will never know.
Truth!
You are the precise reason "THE POOR", never know. Dolt. Poltroon. Wanker-
Just spread the joy from this one and maybe everyone else will learn. Everyone has to discover the good stuff somehow!
Let them be clueless. We don't want them around anyway.
I searched for Jerry Douglas and it took me here. Is this Americana, or Bluegrass? I like to break down the umbrella of 'country music.'
DOES anyone else keep returning to this....
Yes. All the time 🙂
Yes multiple times 😅
Yes, me!
Just feels like butter
Head phones on eyes closed and listening to a little piece of heaven
The entire Transatlantic sessions were off the charts, fabulous and timeless, beautiful merging of the styles of traditional Irish and American Folk/Bluegrass overtones in perfect unison...it reaches down deep inside and touches your heart in a way that is indescribable....God Bless all here...and there in attendance
They need to do it again.
That's because bluegrass origin is scots an Irish with an American flare I'm proud of my heritage 🇺🇲🇮🇪🏴
It’s music like this that makes life worth living. I can’t get enough of this kind of perfection. Thank you, Béla!!
Amen to that!
You pulled the syllables right over my tonsils!
..and thank you Jerry!
@@juansanchezrosales1607 Indeed!
Instablaster.
Bela looks at the other artists with the same affection that I see Mark Knopfler look at his colleagues with.. Pure adoration. What a group!
It must be great to write a tune, trust it to a dozen soulful strangers, and then hear it blossom into something magnificent.
It's like an alternate universe where Rivendell decided, "fuck that whole fellowship/ring business. Let's just jam."
Lmao! Such an underrated comment
This is the best version I've ever heard of this song. It's been at least 1000 times and I still can't stop playing this
There are only a few songs that brings a tear to my eye from just shear beauty. This is one of them.
If you like this song, and have never been on a road trip, you now have your next vacation planned. This song defines exploration, traversing terrain, and experiencing the rock we all live on.
The Dobro solo totally encapsulates that feeling. Jerry Douglas is a master. I hear a whole story of a boy adventuring the country side outside of his home, growing up, venturing further and further, and finally settling down as an old man with his memories.
Thank you all, good gentlemen for the 1000s of hours of practice and rehersals to make this one of the best 5 minutes and 32 seconds I've spent on RUclips today!!!! Be well!!!! Thank you x 1000!!!
Breathtaking!! Really!!!!!
Will bring a tear to a grown man's eye! BEAUTIFUL
Really good Bela. It made me think and feel God, and have compassion for us all and forgiveness and help.❤
Every time I come back to this I'm blown away by how beautiful it is.
This is by far one of my favorite tunes ever written. My wife and I were married to it and it runs very, very deep. This is an absolutely astounding take on "Big Country". Glorious! If you can't get behind this you've got a heart of stone!
Best part; Jerry's solo. Bela gives him the nod and there's just a very quiet reverence about the group as they support. Again, glorious!
how cool that you included this beautiful tune in your wedding ceremony
We allways play this song in the car on the way south in the summer, to France. My kid loves this song from when he was two. He's seven now. Hearing my transatlantic hero's play this makes just a bit of a tear well in my eyes.
Dude you are awesome. This is the song my wife walked down the aisle to. I love songs like this. So well written and complex that you can't describe them appropriately so you just make them part of your life. :)
Absolutely enthralled by this. Can't stop listening, it's always on repeat. Definitely saved my life a couple times.I hope the flautist gets paid handsomely, he absolutely goes off at 4:47, kills it.
Unless I'm very wrong he's playing a low whistle, a lower style of Irish tin whistle
@@eoghancasserly3626 Absolutely! I have my High D and started playing along! Love Bela, how gracious and unassuming he is and how he mixes musical cultures seamlessly!
@@jamesmcdonough7414 I have one of those myself but I'd wager you're 20 times better than me! I can't play it to save my life, I'll stick to the strings 🤣🤣🤣
@@eoghancasserly3626 just rewatching - makes a lot of sense that the instrument isn't a flute. No idea what I was thinking... thank you for correcting me!
@Eoghan Casserly Low E whistle, played by Mike McGoldrick ... he's a genius, look him up!
I am obsessed with this song. Soooo good. Makes you feel good inside.
This was my first time listening to this group. WOW It sounds like the sound of nature coming up out of the earth. Well done.
This is MY first time hearing it. Agree 100% WOW
1st of many to come. Fabulous
Play this version at my funeral boys
I can only hope brother
Dont know you but ill play it for you in Michigan!
meeeee too
I second that.
Bela's face at the end is priceless. 10 years overdue appearing on this show
dougie hamilton Yes, sweet! The Irish / Scottish / Appalachian circle is unbroken.
Béla Fleck, banjo; Aly Bain & John McCusker, fiddle; Jerry Douglas, Dobro; Phil Cunningham, accordion; John Doyle, guitar; Dónal Lunny, Bouzouki; James MacKintosh, percussion; Mike McGoldrick, low whistle; Donald Shaw, piano; Danny Thompson, bass. (From the AllMusic site.)
Superbe !
Danny Thompson and Aly Bain--with Bela Fleck! Holy Cats!
Holy fleck
And John Doyle - wow...
If you listen well enough, you live it
Matt McDonald year’s later... still living it! 20 years later!!!
Bro this shit made me cry. I can fucking feel it
Well-said!!
Nice !
The pictures this paints in my mind and the atmosphere this song evokes are some of the most vivid and beautiful I've ever experienced. The first time I listened to it, I nearly cried. The second time, I did.
I thought I was the only one it gave that feeling to.
This song (and Bigfoot) has been in my mind for 20 plus years. My entire family is from Scotland and I hear this and all I can picture are the mountains and valleys of the highlands. Bela is a next level storyteller, while not once opening his mouth!
I think that no matter what country we live in, if we’re lucky we’ve all been to our place that this music paints ❤️
2 minutes in and I''m crying . Love it
oh my gosh, I literally wept during flux's short dobro solo. and it tells you everything you need to know that bela was entirely content to be in the background til about 3:50 into HIS song. this really causes my soul to soar.
This is candidate for the ultimte beautiful song. there is no way a music can be more happy and beautiful at the same time. its the limmit acchieved.
You could see Bela smile when it all hit, I come back every few months for another dose, one of the best songs, played unbelievably
My favorite parts are when the bass plays a solo. Not often you see the bass pick up the lead like that. And the accordion part that goes along with it is so sweet. The guitar solo from Jerry is also great. And then the whistle near the end is just perfect. And finally, the parts Bela plays at the end. A overwhelming crescendo of notes and scales. 10/10. It simply doesn't get any better than this.
Have you seen the version with victor wooten?
Danny Thompson is my favourite bass player ever. Check out his work with Pentangle and John Martyn!
If you like bass playing lead then you should listen to the original Flecktones version.
Danny Thompson from PENTANGLE on DOUBLE BASS! What musicians gathered for this beautiful song wow!
the very best
This is the song my wife walked down the aisle to. I love songs like this. So well written and complex that you can't describe them appropriately so you just make them part of your life. :)
As a banjoist, when I start playing this song, I cant stop! I played it for 3 hours last night. Thank you Bela
I have heard many versions of this tune, and this one seems to work best. I think it's the celtic feel added by the flute and the acordion
I have never heard it before but will listen many more times !
The best song Bela ever wrote and this is the best rendition of it too. Magnificent!
This is what heaven sounds like
Yes, and cheers to that, Jin!!
We hope!
Is Ireland heaven?
Perfect 😁😇
When someone writes an instrumental, they can name it whatever they want. I don’t know hat Béla was thinking, but to me Big Country is the vast American West.
This is a tour of the evolution of Celtic music, and it's just gorgeous. Someone needs to get this in a film soundtrack.
Bela: A few years too late with this comment! But never the less, I thoroughly enjoy your musicianship! The energy you bestow in your craft is exemplary! Thank You Bela for what you give our ears to listen to!!!
He’s so appreciated, the heir to Washburn married him
Literally a god amongst mere mortals
I listen to it multiple times because it’s so darn fantastic 😅
Amazing sound recording. BBC engineers are the best!
Love this song, it's my go to song to play for my newborn daughter. I feel like she'll remember it when she's grown.
Nicely put. I played to my wife’s pregnant belly every night and my 17 yr old song now sings along to everything I used to play without me ever having to teach him a word....weird and wonderful. Be a good Daddy Zack, it’s well worth it x
You'll hear it in heaven.
Beautiful - I watch it again and again
Love this rendition.
Great song, great playing, great mix. Yeow this hits all the marks!
one of the most beautiful recordings of all time and just over 20k views
Up to 300k now!!
It really is !
It’s magical. There’s nobody out of place, it’s just great
I think 1k of those views are mine. 👍🏻✌🏼💯
That Dobro man ❤️❤️
More music like this would make the world a far better place. Its beautiful, absolutely beautiful.
Such a melodic piece. Beautiful.
That was wonderful
truely an awesome piece ,,, Could listen to it over and over and never get tired of it ,,,
Back to the “reel” roots ...like comfortable pair of shoes..no matter how many other instruments there are..you can always hear the banjo.eh?
I just watched this over and over, and ik it makes me smile and cry at the same time. Every time
This piece strips you from the need to understand, analyze and rationalize music and gives you this upper hand of feeling it so smoothly and easily. A tune so contagious despite of its complexity, and a relay of musical instruments from the banjo, to the stand-up bass, flute, violins, acoustic guitars, and accordion, all of which makes you feel you are part of the ensemble. One instrument takes the tune from the other and passes it to another instrument as if they were a master sports team with an elevated command of the art. And then they build it up to reach a crescendo that makes you want to stand up and scream loudly cheering for scoring a touchdown. What a team!
People have used this piece of music on many occasions: weddings, driving in the country side while speeding in a convertible and the wind blowing her hair, new born, and some even requested it to be played at their funeral. A master composition is one that evokes all kinds of feelings, happy, sad, mild and strong with tears of joy and sadness. This one is a great example
.
Well said, Ramzi!
Heavenly sounds!!!!!!!!!! This is heaven absolutely!
AMEN X 2😇
This is by far one of the best renditions of this song. I alway come back for more.
What an awesome jewel to find......a total pleasure to listen to....I play it back to back a few times every time I come here...Thanks Bela.....
This was amazing. I've already listened to it twenty times and started to learn it and I just found it.
What a superb line up! Magical! 🙏
Every couple months I come right back here. Wow
Really Big. Big song with Big heart. Beautiful.
the melody can touch my heart. I can feel obviously each instrument and these instruments resonate to make a beauty.
Its Great nothing beats this kind of Music , it beats what you can hear on a radio in the work truck thats for sure
Please don’t end! So beautiful!
This is always been one of my absolute favorite songs by the Flecktones. While this version lacks the power and (for lack of a better word) majesty of the Flecktones’ version it has a sweetness that literally brings tears to my eyes.
Hey thanks, please share the link for version
Chills running down my spine... this piece is just too awesome for words...
Fabulous music, just from the heart!!!
This song is timeless!!!!
And that simple, lovely bass solo!
This made me feel 100% better after listening to this!
Me 2😀
God must have chosen you, Béla... just to reveal this for us, awesome! Hugs from Reinbek, Germany. Be blessed. All of you.
moin zaiqjb of pQ on diabmb uh
God and 11 hours a day practice when he was a teenager.
Nice
Yes . Bela says that this song came to him in a dream and it was all he could do to get it down before it faded . He says he called his answering machine and hummed the motif and ran with it from there . The great stuff is not created - it's discovered by those worthy of channeling the wellspring of creativity .
Thank you kindly 😇😊
Pure musical genius.
Big fan of Danny Thompson on double bass. Love Bela and Jerry too. But really enjoy the silent conversations these guys have when they look at each other, work out breaks and transitions. That’s all the fun and magic of playing together.
OMG. Just beautiful...and that doesn't even go far enough!! My all-time favorite of Bela's and this arrangement just blew me away!!! Brought me to goose bumps and tears!
Thank you, Bela and musicians!!
Just wonderful!!!!
Masterful in every way! I always smile when Danny takes the melody on his bass.
Bela fleck plays so peacefully and plays some of the best banjo backup!
Saw Bela and the Fleck tones along with Phish in SLC in the early '90's. Only part of the seats the hall would hold were set up but they could have saved themselves even this effort, nobody sat down the entire time, we were all dancing our asses off.
BEAUTIFUL! That my eyes mist over😎👍
Absolutely stunning musicianship from the very best players. This blows me away every time I listen to it. It literally is as good as it gets.
One of the most beautiful pieces of art I've experienced
So beautiful. I've got goosebumps and tears in my eyes.
I couldn't agree more. I can't tell you why some tunes seem to reach down into my soul and pluck at my heartstrings, even when I haven't heard them anywhere special before. This one is definitely one of those tunes. If I knew I had one day left to live, one day to say my goodbyes and set whatever I could right, then one final sunset to watch before the end, I'd listen to this while I watched it.
Agree 100%. So sweet and down home . My type exactly . Thanks Bela☺
Me too!
Tears are rolling down my face right now, and I feel exactly the same way, especially as I enter my twilight years.
True that. This is a song that invokes an overwhelming feeling of majesty and awe. Does that sound a bit over the top? Not in my head. Goosebumps & tears indeed.
I love how you built the song basically one set of instruments at a time in the beginning.
BEAUTIFUL!!!
systems/process/minimalist music. my favorite! :)
I was lucky to find this and really continuing to listen to it a ton of times😀
Beautiful!
What a beautiful piece of music
absolutely divine thankyou for the cleansing
Excellents musiciens et magnifique mélodie...merci...🙂
This is the music where there are no words to describe it. It is just absolutely perfect and makes me so warm and fuzzy and makes me cry tears of happiness every single time I hear it. Truly an amazing piece of work! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.❤️
Wonderful music from truly great musicians.
Excellent performance. All very talented performers!!!
What a Stunning tune closed my eyes on second listening it's absolutely brilliant to pick out all the notes of wonderful musicians give us more of the same will listen to this tune for a long time to come
One of my all time calm my nerves, enjoy the notes tunes ever. Every version no matter which band he plays with still has that smoothing sound.
it is an absolute pleasure watching great musicians at the top of their game.Transatlantic sessions was a masterful series full of diverse styles and music and wonderful to watch.
Love this song sooo good the best Bela have made🎸❤️💯👍👍
That was beautiful. I'm just in awe
Amazing!!! Love it!!!