“We’re the weirdest jazz band on the planet,” said drummer Antonio Sanchez on stage at a packed Théâtre Maisonneuve on July 1, referring to himself and his two bandmates, Edmar Castañeda and Bela Fleck. A banjo, a Colombian harp, and a drum set—it is, indeed, a little weird.
I’ve already expressed how much I love this band, selecting their one-of-a-kind album as one of my top five picks of 2025 for PAN M 360. After a concert that lasted nearly two hours, I walked out blown away, just like most of the audience.
Especially since the Mexican Antonio Sanchez told us, “Please don’t become the fifty-first state of the United States—you deserve better,” to thunderous applause.
This unlikely trio exemplifies musical openness and American music at its best. Here, “America” refers to the territory stretching from Baffin Island to southern Argentina. A Colombian, a Mexican, and a New Yorker who met in New York, where they have all lived.
We’re dealing with three virtuosos on their instruments who are open to a wide range of styles. Bela Fleck has played Bach on the banjo, improvised with the great jazz pianist Chick Corea, performed with Indian and African musicians, and recorded bluegrass albums with his wife, Abigail Washington.
Antonio Sanchez played for several years with guitarist Pat Metheny and recently performed with the Elipsis Trio, alongside Cuban musician Pedrito Sanchez and multi-instrumentalist Michael League, who leads several bands, including Snarky Puppy.
And Edmar Castañeda has played his Latin American harp with a wide range of artists, from the Mexican singer Lila Downs to the Japanese pianist Hiromi.
On July 1, Edmar Castañeda seemed to be in particularly good form. I’ll admit: sometimes I worried about his Llanera harp, which is smaller than the Western harp and has a very distinctive sound. He would fiddle with it, tap it, and stretch it to make the strings sound differently, but always with a huge smile. This instrument is sometimes processed with effects pedals. This was especially true on “Whisper of Resilience,” a song he composed during a difficult time in his life—a piece that takes us through a range of emotions, from despair to hope. A truly memorable moment.
Bela Fleck has shown us just how much can be done with a banjo by reinterpreting George Gershwin’s orchestral piece, Rhapsody in Blue, to which he dedicated an album in 2024 to mark its 100th anniversary. The piece features a complexity of harmonies and astonishing chords.
On his drum set, Antonio Sanchez can hit very hard, then scrape his cymbal to produce strange sounds. Or he can play with subtlety.
However, beyond each musician’s tremendous talent, what stands out above all is the rapport and synergy between the three. The banjo and the harp blend together, as do the percussion instruments.
“We are a democratic group, and we don’t like authoritarian rhetoric,” said Antonio Sanchez. He didn’t mention the U.S. president by name, but we all knew who he was talking about.
BEATrio—a name derived from the initials of each member’s first name—embodies the United States’ openness to immigration, diversity, and imagination. It is the exact opposite of what is advocated by the man whose name we will refrain from mentioning.
Photo: Victor Diaz Lamich
