By 3pm on the second day of High Sierra, I felt like I had already seen a few living legends in the flesh with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band set and Nels Cline’s jazz-fusion set to start the day. But I was not prepared at all to see Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer, another absolute highlight of the festival for me. With a sunny and hot afternoon sun beating down on the main stage crowd, this power trio of jazz/folk musicians brought some of the most beautiful music to this festival that I’ve ever heard performed live. I didn’t listen ahead of time and I knew what sort of music to expect from Bela, but the addition of tablas and upright bass rounded out the sound and seemed fitting for the mountains of Northern California.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend this festival from a photographer’s perspective, which meant that I was standing just 10 feet from these musicians and watching on with folks like Marc Friedman standing right next to me. The music, the setting, the vibe, the feeling — it was stunning. I had the hugest grin when I went back to meet my friends after I shot the set; truly inspiring.

Here are my photos:

Check out these amazing videos someone else shot from most of the set:

Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer – High Sierra Music Fest – 02JULY2010 (1 of 3) [YouTube]

Edgar Meyer, Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck – High Sierra Music Fest – 02JULY2010 (2 of 3) [YouTube]

Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Zakir Hussain – High Sierra Music Fest 2010 – (3 of 3) [YouTube]