Watch Flea’s 13-Minute Bass and Trumpet Solo
Red Hot Chili Peppers member Flea performed a 13-minute bass and trumpet solo set this past weekend, delivering an ever-evolving piece that featured bass, trumpet, loops and effects.
He was taking part in an event held in San Francisco by climate change organization Pathway to Paris, which also featured Patti Smith, Bob Weir, Eric Burdon and others.
Smith was clearly delighted to present the set. “I just would like to introduce a very good friend of mine," she said. "He is poetry, he is innocence, he is energy, he is Flea!”
Before he began to play, the bassist thanked organizers Jesse Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon for “diligently and selflessly, time after time, giving everything they’ve got to make our planet beautiful, to rejuvenate it, to take care of it and love it. ... I, for one, am very grateful.”
You can watch the full performance below.
Flea’s soundscape began with setting up bass loops and echo effects before moving to trumpet to solo over the background. Later, he progressed into a passage with something of a Southern rock feel, putting his guitar through distortion for a heavy lead effect. The last section featured more of his Chili Peppers style bass playing. Before he finished with a dance carrying both instruments, he stopped the loops and left the stage without a word.
Pathway to Paris – named after the global agreement from which U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew last year – aims to unite “musicians, artists, activists, climate change experts, academics, politicians and innovators to participate in a series of events, dialogues and leading initiatives to help turn the Paris Agreement into reality.”
Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis this month told the New York Post that the band was about to start work on a new album. Flea’s memoir, Acid for the Children, will be published on Sept. 25.