Don't miss "Throw Down Your Heart" at the Coolidge

Just got back from the sold out 7 p.m. Preview on the BIG screen with BELA FLECK in person at the Coolidge!


As described on the Coolidge Corner Theatre website:
"THROW DOWN YOUR HEART follows American banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck on his journey to Africa to explore the roots of the banjo and record an album. Béla's boundary-breaking musical adventure takes him to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia and Mali, and provides a glimpse of the beauty and complexity of Africa. Using his banjo, Béla transcends barriers of language and culture, finding common ground and forging connections with musicians from very different backgrounds. In his trailblazing 30-year career, Béla has brought the instrument into jazz, pop, classical, and world music settings, and won eight Grammys along the way (not to mention the 20 nominations, in more distinct categories than anyone else, ever). dir. Sascha Paladino, documentary, 1h37m

The title of the film goes back to a saying from the slave trade, a warning to those who saw the ocean for the first time as they were about to be taken away on the slave ships never to see their homeland again. Thus the warning was to "throw down your heart" because you will never get it back.

Music is a universal language and Béla Fleck's hands speak it with infinite variation and exactness, mirroring the rhythms and emotions of his African musician collaborators. In addition to the lengthy question and answer session after the film, Béla combined into one long number a virtuoso of banjo styles. Once again, the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline is holding its place as one of the most shining cultural jewels of Greater Boston.