Grammy-winning musician Bela Fleck has long been known for taking the banjo out of its down-home Deliverance straitjacket and putting it into jazz and classical contexts. Lately though, he has been taking the banjo back to its roots: Africa, where the instrument was invented and brought to the U.S. by slaves. He recently traveled to several countries, including Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, Mali, South Africa and Madagascar; played with local musicians; and released the Throw Down Your Heart CD and accompanying film (just released on DVD). Now, he’s touring with a group of African musicians, including Tanzanian thumb pianist Anania Ngoliga, Malian ngoni (stringed instrument) player Bassekou Kouyate and Tanzanian guitarist/singer John Kitime. The show comes to Dallas on Feb. 10. We recently caught up with Fleck by phone from Nashville.

1 Why did you decide now to do something with African musicians?

I was looking for something ambitious to do outside of (my band) the Flecktones. We had decided to take a year off; we’d been going for 15 years nonstop. This is something I wanted to do. I wanted to see where the banjo comes from.

2 How did you decide which countries to go to?

Different circumstances pushed me to different parts of the world. I wasn’t planning on going to East Africa, but I had a friend who convinced me to go there, and she introduced me to a lot of musicians. As far as West Africa, that’s where the banjo comes from. I went to Gambia and then Mali, where if I could do something with [singer] Oumou Sangare, my life would be complete.

3 And you decided you wanted to tour the U.S. with this project?

I was resisting touring the U.S. Some of these pieces we played for 40 minutes, and I had to cut them down to five minutes [for the disc]. How can I tell these guys they can only play for five minutes [onstage]? They have a different consciousness. But I was talked into it. I was worried about visas and people not showing up. But everybody showed up, and everybody did an incredible job.

4 Has playing African music changed your musical approach?

I’ve heard people say that my playing sounds different. . . . The years of learning to play it and continuing to tour with it, it seeps in and you find yourself doing things from a different perspective.