Recently Béla Fleck's latest CD, Throw Down Your Heart, won two GRAMMY awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Contemporary World Music Album. On Monday, March 1, the Ottawa Jazz Festival presents, a unique one-of-a-kind concert. Fleck will be joined by African superstars Bassekou Kouyate and Anania Ngoliga. The concert will take place at Dominion-Chalmers United Church, 355 Cooper Street, (corner Cooper and O'Connor) at 8pm.

Considered the world's premier banjo player, Fleck sets out on a very personal journey to discover the origins of the banjo in his continued Tales From the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3 series - Africa Sessions. Along the way, transcending language and culture, Fleck jams with both local and major international superstars throughout Africa.

Mali's Bassekou Kouyate, one of the world's foremost ngoni virtuosos (essentially the banjo of Mali) will be joined by his rocking band, Ngoni Ba. Descended from a long line of ngoni players, Kouyate is recognized as a sensation in both Africa and abroad and has collaborated with such artists as Carlos Santana and U2. Kouyate's album in 2007 won the 2008 BBC3 Awards for World Music - Album of the Year & African Artist of the Year.

“The moment I heard Anania Ngoliga I knew we had to find him," states Fleck. Ngoliga is a blind marimba master and singer from Tanzania. He also plays several other traditional and modern instruments. Awarded the Mfuko's Zeze Award in 2006, he has played with many artists who are involved with the Afro-fusion movement in Tanzania. He will be joined by guitarist John Kitime.

The process of creating the CD is documented in the multi-award winning film of the same name (winner of the audience award at the Vancouver Film Festival), Throw Down Your Heart. In the film Kitime explains that when his ancestors saw the sea, they knew they were never coming back. Destined to become slaves they had a saying, 'Throw Down Your Heart'.

Fleck travels from Uganda, Tanzania and Gambia-Senegal to Mali, South Africa and Madagascar. Through on-location collaborations with musicians, Fleck is convinced that the banjo originates from Gambia. With so much accumulated work, the film focuses on his collaborations in Uganda, Tanzania, Gambia, Senegal and Mali. View the trailer and the compelling Ngoliga as he collaborates with Fleck.

“...the results are wondrous" - USA Today

Reserved tickets are sold out. General admission is $50, Students under 25 years of age with a valid i.d. are $30 and are available at the following locations: Ottawa Jazz Festival office: 294 Albert, Suite 602, 613-241-2633; Compact Music (2 locations); CD Warehouse (all 3 locations); Rob's Music 175 Richmond Road in Westboro (new location!), 613-722-1010; and Ticketmaster (613) 755-1111 or Ticketmaster.