Login
Login

UFO Tofu

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox album

| name = UFO Tofu

| type = Album

| artist = Béla Fleck and the Flecktones

| cover = UFO Tofu (Béla Fleck and the Flecktones album - cover art).jpg

| alt =

| released = 1992

| recorded = 1992

| venue =

| studio = *Javelina (Nashville, Tennessee)

  • Sound Stage (Nashville, Tennessee)

| genre = Jazz fusion

| length = 55:01

| label = Warner Bros.{{cite news |last1=Cawley |first1=Jimmy |title=UFO Tofu |work=The Boston Globe |date=12 Nov 1992 |department=Calendar |page=8}}

| producer = Béla Fleck, Roy Wooten, Howard Levy, Victor Wooten

| prev_title = Flight of the Cosmic Hippo

| prev_year = 1991

| next_title = Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

| next_year = 1993

}}

UFO Tofu is the third album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1992.{{cite news |last1=Wallace |first1=Debra L. |title=Hot Fun, Cool Jazz |work=Sun-Sentinel |date=1 May 1992 |department=Features Showtime |page=4}}{{cite news |last1=Heim |first1=Chris |title=Banjo wizard Bela Fleck... |work=Chicago Tribune |date=14 Aug 1992 |department=Friday |page=O}} The title is a palindrome, which is also a musical theme in the title track; the idea originated with the musician Baby Gramps.{{cite news |last1=Considine |first1=J.D. |title=Fleck brings the banjo back to jazz |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=7 Aug 1992 |department=Features |page=5}}{{cite news |last1=Abbott |first1=Jim |title=Bela Fleck |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=16 Oct 1992 |department=Calendar |page=6}}

Production

The album was produced by Fleck, Roy Wooten, Howard Levy, and Victor Wooten.{{cite magazine |title=UFO Tofu by Bela Fleck & the Flecktones |magazine=Billboard |date=Sep 5, 1992 |volume=104 |issue=36 |page=55}} "Bonnie & Slyde" is a tribute to Bonnie Raitt and her slide guitar mastery.{{cite news |last1=Landis |first1=David |title=Bela's Slide |work=USA Today |date=10 Aug 1992 |page=1D}} "Sex in a Pan" was inspired by a dessert offered at a restaurant in North Carolina.{{cite news |last1=Stewart |first1=Zan |title=Flecktones Dip into Musical Melting Pot |work=Los Angeles Times |date=26 Aug 1992 |page=F1}}

Critical reception

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web |first=Thom |last= Owens |title= UFO Tofu > Review |url= {{AllMusic|class=album|id= r60007 |pure_url=yes}} |publisher=AllMusic |access-date= August 3, 2011}}

|rev2 = The Indianapolis Star

|rev2score = {{rating|3|4}}{{cite news |last1=Warren |first1=Jill |title=UFO/Tofu |work=The Indianapolis Star |date=28 Sep 1992 |page=D7}}

}}

The Indianapolis Star deemed the album "a savory blend of jazz, country and world beat—with a generous dollop of funk, just for fun." The Morning Call stated that it "blends the Flecktones' high-tech electronics with Fleck's lyrical, often melodic playing."{{cite news |last1=Fisher |first1=Don |title=Banjo Benefit for AIDS Comes to Kutztown |work=The Morning Call |date=20 Nov 1992 |page=D1}}

In his AllMusic review, music critic Thom Owens wrote of the album: "Though the Flecktones didn't change their formula with their third album, UFO Tofu, they did manage to craft one of their more consistent and impressive efforts... Occasionally, the material is lightweight, functioning only as vehicle for the group's solos. Then again, the whole point of Fleck's music is the solos, so that shouldn't upset his fans too much. Of course, it doesn't help him win new ones, either."

Track listing

All songs by Béla Fleck unless otherwise noted.

  1. "The West County" – 4:30
  2. "Sex in a Pan" (Victor Wooten) – 3:33
  3. "Nemo's Dream" – 5:07
  4. "Bonnie & Slyde" – 4:18
  5. "Scuttlebutt" – 4:04
  6. "UFO Tofu" – 3:46
  7. "Magic Fingers" – 5:13
  8. "True North" – 4:54
  9. "Life without Elvis" – 5:06
  10. "Seresta" (Howard Levy, Manfredo Fest) – 3:39
  11. "The Yee-Haw Factor" – 6:57
  12. "After the Storm" – 3:52

Personnel

Chart positions

class="wikitable"

!Year

!Chart

!Position

1992

|Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums{{cite magazine |title=Top Contemporary Jazz Albums |magazine=Billboard |date=Oct 24, 1992 |volume=104 |issue=43 |page=43}}

|5

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Flecktones}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ufo Tofu}}

Category:Béla Fleck and the Flecktones albums

Category:1992 albums

Category:Warner Records albums