Flea :: A Plea
Photo: Clara Balzary
The legendary Australian-born and Los Angeles-based bassist, actor, trumpeter, and telepathic trailblazer of his generation, Michael Peter Balzary, known around the world as Flea, has been this fundamental force of cosmic creativity and poetic power for nearly five decades now. An endless presence that shapeshifts within the realms of the mind’s most melodic memories, Balzary is as mythical and epic as one can get. While I won’t waste too much time on the eager efforts of exploring an iconic introduction for the melodic myths’ revolutionary resume, I’ll do my best to carefully peel back the liberating layers of the veteran artist’s most recent effort, “A Plea”. The first track from his upcoming album on Nonesuch Records, which will be announced in 2026, simultaneously becomes an almost timeless and culturally captivating body of work since its release earlier this month. Effortlessly echoing the environmental elements of the late Gil Scott-Heron and his 1971 masterpiece “Pieces of a Man”, which features one of the most epic and instrumentally important pieces of music of the 20th century, “Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” Balzary and company embark on a historical hike that conquers harmonious heights, and melodic mountain views that is one for the ages.
“I’m always just trying to be myself. I don’t care about the act of politics. I think there is a much more transcendent place above it where there’s discourse to be had that can actually help humanity, and actually help us all to live harmoniously and productively in a way that’s healthy for the world. There’s a place where we meet, and it’s love.”
Photo: Samuel Anthony Bañuelos III
Joined by a renowned roster of masterful musicians like guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise), drummer Deantoni Parks (The Mars Volta), alto flutist Rickey Washington, trombonist Vikram Devasthali, double bassist Anna Butterss (SML/Jeff Parker ETA IVtet), percussionist Mauro Refosco, Chris Warren on vocals, and the song’s producer, Josh Johnson, who also plays alto saxophone, “A Plea” is melodic mantra that echoes the same societal suffering, and numbing narrative is always has. Still, this time Balzary and company take that poetic peace and share it with the world in hopes of a cultural connection that has been severed almost systematically. Balzary has always been one who tightly grips the juxtaposition of jazz and its remarkable reassurance that pain, love, and life’s biblical balance of good and evil. Briefly stepping out of the circle of creative consciousness that Red Hot Chili Peppers have occupied for several decades, Balzary begins to spread his spiritual reach towards his harmonious heroes, while further exploring the atmosphere in the Avant-garde. “Make something beautiful. I don’t care if it’s a little scrap of squiggly crayon on a paper. Make something beautiful and see somebody. Give it to somebody,” cries Balzary from his exhausted, yet liberating lungs as a spiritual storm of various, jazz-influenced sounds, and tonal textures gracefully paint the world in a more vibrant hue of color, but only for a moment. A moment that lasts seven minutes and thirty-eight seconds, to be exact. As most of us ponder, fear, and hesitate as to what 2026 will bring, let us be reminded of the good that’s out there. “A Plea” is a rebellious yet radical response to the world’s most terrible issues: political unrest, human rights, and the injustices of the American government, to name a few, and only the poetic prayer of music can uncover these universal tragedies.
