BEATrio – the new project from banjo great Béla Fleck, renowned harpist Edmar Castañeda, and groundbreaking drummer Antonio Sánchez – will play a much-anticipated show on 31st January 2026 in Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre, during the Celtic Connections Festival. The Scottish concert will be part of a 10-date European tour.
Reviewing their show at London’s Cadogan Hall in July 2025, AUK’s Jonathan Aird wrote: “Having seen Fleck in electric jazz funk fusion mode with the Flecktones, in a duo with Chick Corea, with a big band on his “My Bluegrass Heart” tour, and naturally with Abigail Washburn, this was very possibly the finest vehicle for his music to date.”
The trio’s eponymous debut album, released in May 2025 via Béla Fleck Productions / Thirty Tigers, has earned a 2026 Grammy nomination in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category. Formed in 2024, BEATrio found its sound during a special twelve-show run at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village, where the band fearlessly explored new, original music, most of it collaboratively written. “Each night felt like an adventure,” says Castañeda, “and it was special to see the audience experience the music’s evolution.”
Or as Fleck puts it, “We were hanging on for dear life. Things were going right, things were going wrong — everything was happening. This project kind of reminds me of the early days of the Flecktones, when audiences would go, ‘How is this supposed to work After playing a duo concert with Edmar, it became clear that we needed to write together, in order to accommodate the needs of harp and banjo. This is our first attempt—sometimes you get lucky, before you think too much about it!”
By the end of the Blue Note run, BEATrio had locked into a sort of telepathy, as well as a system for covering all the necessary musical ground. “I play the groove with my left hand with Antonio,” says Castañeda, “while at the same time I play melodies and harmonies with my right hand and with Béla — a very fun challenge that makes a unique and powerful trio.”
“Edmar has quite a bit of responsibility in this particular case,” Sánchez adds, “because he functions as the harmony and the bass.” Indeed, Castañeda sends the bottom frequencies of his harp through a proper bass rig onstage, so the low end is always present. The drummer goes on to call Castañeda “the glue between the banjo and the drums.”
You can see the trio performing ‘Hooligan Harbour’ in summer 2025 below. The tour dates are listed below, and tickets can be found at this link.
BEATrio UK/European Tour Dates 2026:
Jan 31 – Glasgow Pavilion Theatre – Celtic Connections
Feb 3 – Ljubljana, Slovenia – Linhart Hall
Feb 4 – Čakovec, Croatia – Auditorium, Baptist Church Čakovec
Feb 5 – Prague, CZ – ARCHA+
Feb 6 – Brno, CZ – Sono Center
Feb 8 – Hamburg, DE – Elbphilharmonie
Feb 10 – Helsinki, FL – Savoy Theatre
Feb 11 – Tallinn, EE – Alexa Concert Hall
Feb 13 – Paris, FR – Sons d’Hiver
Feb 14 – Saint Pölten, AT – Festspielhaus St Pölten
