Review: The BEATrio – Bela Fleck, Edmar Castaneda and Antonio Sanchez at Universal Preservation Hall; Thursday, October. 2, 2025

Antonio Sanchez called BEATrio “world’s most unlikely band” Thursday at Universal Preservation Hall, claiming fans have “never seen this” – a trio of his drums with Bela Fleck’s banjo and Edmar Castaneda’s harp. His claim stood strong as the unprecedented band overwhelmed the capacity crowd in a brilliantly intuitive, jazz-complex explosion of their self-titled album, released in March, plus extras from Fleck’s vast output.

BEATrio, from left: Bela Fleck, banjo; Antonio Sanchez, drums; Edmar Castaneda, harp

Their first two songs came from the album; but the trio stretched them onstage from “Archipelago” at under six minutes and “Pellucidar,” just over seven, to nine and eleven minutes, respectively; inventive and complex. If paid by the note, those guys would have owned the building, and the town.

Both openers flexed tight ensemble power, the former a Latin groove, the latter a bristly hesitation beat with longer, more questing solos. Things opened up still further in “Throw Down Your Heart,” Fleck’s sparse solo banjo riding variations into a Bach-y sequence before Sanchez and Castaneda jumped into its cascading melodies, more Grateful Dead-like in rock-fugue repeats and modulations than how Fleck played it with his all-star African band in 2008. 

Each player introduced a section of the two-hour show, their obvious mutual admiration sometimes edged with humor, then led that stretch in one of their own compositions. 

Sanchez went first, describing the band as a collective, a democracy, before an extended, joyously noisy drum solo launched his “Kaleidoscopes” (five and half minutes on record, 14 onstage Thursday). He soloed mostly on toms and kick until Fleck and Castaneda joined in, then he shifted into the upper registers where banjo and harp flew, engaging snares and cymbals as the band exploded into full formidable strength. At times his kick drum hit micro-perfectly with the low notes (long strings, where the red string sits in the photos) booming from Castaneda’s harp. Other times, they tugged or compressed the beat, no seams or slack. Up top, fleet banjo riffs welded with blinding-fast treble harp lines and cymbal splashes.

Antonio Sanchez

Fleck noodled his oblique way into “The Star Spangled Banner;” more melancholy than Jimi’s fierce Woodstock riff-bombs and machine-gun rage; this introduced “Hooligan Harbor,” a rocking groove under a long-line melody.

Next, Castaneda spoke somberly of a challenging time after a broken hand jeopardized his music-making, livelihood and family. His “Whispers of Resilience” sketched a serene mood; not resignation but recovery, maybe the most emotionally direct tune all night. Feeling vividly and visibly powered the energetic, animated and engaging Castaneda.

Edmar Castaneda, above; Bela Fleck, below

Fleck spoke last, after “Walnut and Western” bopped around extra elements including “Rhapsody in Blue,” a breathtaking banjo exploration of this familiar orchestrated jazz classic. 

He introduced “Cloak and Dagger” with a funny, self-deprecating tale of trying to write a tango, only to hear from Castaneda that it was not a tango, but a cha-cha. When he asked Sanchez what he thought of the new cha-cha, the drummer countered that it was a danson, not a cha-cha. Fleck added that fans compliment him on the samba before noting lots of his music defies description. Praising his band-mates, as they both had done, he expressed his gratitude for playing with guys like these, then corrected himself: “They’re the only guys like these” – true of himself as well.

Tango, cha-cha, danson or samba, this Latin-y number inspired Fleck’s most explosive playing, fierce grimaces (about seven of ten on the John Mayer scale) attesting to its riff challenges. Like the openers, this flew fast and far on unity in ensemble runs and ear-popping solos. 

Fleck’s astonishing ability to transform conventional banjo language of crisp tight rolls that exploit the instrument’s short note-decay time has found a new and thrilling context in BEATrio as he concentrates as much on rhythm as melody and harmony, a seriously exciting band.

Unanimous tumult brought them back onstage for “Touch and Go,” a vintage Fleck bluegrass-y number in which jazzy counterpoint, zippy counter-rhythms and a quote of the Beatles’ “Blackbird” focused wild and wonderful energy from “the only guys like these.”

Set List

*Archipelago

*Pellucid

Throw Down Your Heart

*Kaleidoscope 

*Hooligan Harbor

*Whispers of Resilience

*Walnut and Western 

*Cloak and Dagger

* From “BEATrio” – all were generously stretched far past their recorded durations

Encore: Touch & Go

The crowd, before the show