Banjo player Bela Fleck has a very strange idea of taking a year off. While his popular jam band, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, is on hiatus until the release of its next album early next year, the eight-time Grammy winner has thrown himself into a wide variety of projects that feed his diverse musical interests.

The past few months have found Fleck performing and touring in three additional musical configurations: a jazz trio with reknowned violinist Jean Luc Ponty and bassist Stanley Clarke; a classical fusion duo with his best friend, acoustic bass innovator Edgar Meyer; and a progressive bluegrass group called Acoustic Trio (featuring relative newcomers guitarist Bryan Sutton and fiddler Casey Driessen), which will be appearing at the Calvin Theatre this Friday night.

A former prodigy who is widely considered to be the world’s finest banjoist, Fleck, now 47, said that for his return to bluegrass with the Acoustic Trio, he has purposely chosen to diverge from the classic bluegrass band lineup of guitar, banjo, fiddle, Dobro and bass.

"I don’t really like to play in large complicated groups, in which nobody gets to play very much, but it’s really cluttered. I prefer to be in small groups where everybody’s strong. I thought of Bryan and Casey specifically for their ability to make a small group sound powerful," said Fleck.

Sutton, named "guitar player of the year" in 2000 by the International Bluegrass Music Association, is known for flashy-but-tasteful precision finger work that has led to comparisons with legendary new-acoustic guitarist Tony Rice. In addition to releasing his first solo project, "Ready To Go," Sutton has been a member of Ricky Skaggs’ band, Kentucky Thunder, as well as recording with The Dixie Chicks, Jerry Douglas and Dolly Parton.

Driessen, a recent graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music, is known for his unique "chop" style of rhythmic fiddle drive. He has recorded with major country artists including Lee Ann Womack and Jim Lauderdale, and is now an active member of the Tim O’Brien Band and Steve Earle’s Bluegrass Dukes.

As a prolific composer who has been documented by the Grammy organization as having been nominated for 20 awards in more musical categories than any other artist in history, Fleck originally saw the trio as an opportunity to delve into his back catalog of bluegrass-based tunes. However, as is his preference, the Acoustic Trio has now evolved into a showcase for the composing talents of all group members.

"We’ve come up with some really nice combinations that we’re very proud of, some of which I’ve written, and some of which Bryan and Casey have started writing together," Fleck said.

Having caught the public’s eye in the early 1980s as a member of the musically-eclectic group, New Grass Revival, Fleck went on to record a series of early solo albums on Rounder Records, and has since been under contract to major labels including Warner and Sony—through which he released an artistically and commercially successful classical crossover album, "Perpetual Motion."

He acknowledged that with the industry’s focus on marketing categories, it has been hard to find a label that can encompass the full range of his musical diversity, as well as his current prolificness.

"I’m in a very creative phase, but you can’t overdo it. It should be special when you put out a record. Instead of, ‘Oh, there’s another record,’ you want it to be, ‘Oh good, there’s another record coming.’ said Fleck, who recently established a solo web site (www.belafleck.com) to keep fans apprised of his various non-Flecktone endeavors.

Considered by many in the acoustic music community to be the most influential banjo figure since the 1940s originator of three-fingered picking, Earl Scruggs, Fleck takes a cue from his former teacher, banjo historian and bandleader Tony Trischka, in maintaining curiosity about the history of his instrument.

Fleck’s interest in the roots of the banjo recently led him on a month-long tour of Uganda, Tanzania, Gambia and Mali, where he collaborated with prominent, indigenous musicians, recorded a live album and shot footage for a filmed documentary. The banjoist has found that this type of cross-cultural collaboration requires a certain sensitivity on the visiting musician’s part if he wants to inspire confidence in his hosts.

Said Fleck, "Enthusiasm counts for a lot, and you want to do whatever it takes to not make it unpleasant for them. For me, that means writing down the music in tablature as quickly as I can, rather than taking more time trying to memorize it. The sooner we actually start playing together, the sooner they realize, ‘Oh, this guy can actually play.’ Having realized I can really play their music, they get really excited, too."

"Whenever you meet a lifelong practitioner of an instrument, you find a lot of commonality. They’ve dealt with the same problems you’ve dealt with in terms of learning to get a sound out of their instrument, play in time and play in tune. Those things are the same everywhere," said Fleck.

Sharing a special night of bluegrass at the Calvin Theatre with the Bela Fleck Acoustic Trio will be the acclaimed Del McCoury Band, (featured in the recent independent film festival favorite, "Bluegrass Journey") and now celebrating the release of a new album, "The Company We Keep."

The band features Del McCoury on lead vocals and guitar, Jason Carter on fiddle, and McCoury’s sons Rob and Ronnie on banjo and mandolin, respectively. While the band has a traditional bluegrass flavor, it has earned the respect of listeners of all ages through collaborations with roots-rocker Steve Earle and the alternative jam band Phish.