Victor Wooten Returns to the Fillmore

I first saw the world renowned bassist Victor Wooten in 1996, and actually got to spend time with him during his tour with Bela Fleck in 2000. What struck me most was not just his unbelievable talent, but his utter joy in playing the bass, and a genuine sense of humility; Wooten truly redefines the word musician. Regaled as the most influential bassist since Jaco Pastorius, Wooten is known for his solo recordings and tours, and as a member of the Grammy-winning supergroup, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones. He is an innovator on the bass guitar, as well as a talented composer, arranger, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. But those gifts only begin to tell the tale of this Tennessee titan. On May 4th, he and his band will return to the Fillmore, in what can only be described as another "don't miss this" performance.

Wooten is the loving husband and devoted father of four; the youngest sibling of the amazing Wooten brothers (Regi, Roy aka "Futureman", Rudy and Joseph), and the bassist in their famed family band; the student in the martial art of Wing Chun and the nature survival skill of Tracking; the teacher of dozens of bass players at his acclaimed annual Bass & Nature camp; and the master magician.

Wooten got to music early, growing up in a military family in which his older brothers all played and sang. By the time he was 3, Victor was being taught bass by his oldest brother Regi, and at age 5 he was performing professionally with the Wooten Brothers Band. He recalls, "My parents and brothers were the foundation. They prepared me for anything by teaching me to keep my mind open and learn to adapt." Working their way east from Sacramento, the band played countless clubs and eventually opened concerts for Curtis Mayfield and War.

Wooten was influenced by bass mentors, Stanley Clarke, Larry Graham and Bootsy Collins, while learning about the music business at a wildly accelerated pace. By the early '80s, with the family settled in Newport News, Virginia, the brothers became mainstays at Busch Gardens theme park in nearby Williamsburg, making numerous connections with musicians in Nashville and New York.

In 1988 Wooten moved to Nashville, where he worked with singer Jonell Mosser and met New Grass Revival banjo ace Bela Fleck. A year later, Fleck enlisted Vic, his brother Roy (a.k.a. Future Man) and harmonica-playing keyboardist Howard Levy to perform with him, and the Flecktones were born. After three highly successful albums, Levy departed in 1993, and the band's new trio format enabled Victor to develop and display a staggering array of fingerboard skills that turned him into a bass hero of Pastorian-proportions and helped earn the band a Grammy.

With the Flecktones in full flight, Wooten set his sights on a solo career, first forming Bass Extremes with fellow low-end lord Steve Bailey (leading to an instructional book/CD and two CDs, to date), and finally releasing his critically-acclaimed solo debut, A Show of Hands, in 1996. Soon after, Vic took his solo show on the road with drummer J.D. Blair. Momentum and accolades built with successive tours and the release of What Did He Say? in 1997, the Grammy-nominated Yin-Yang in 1999 and the double CD, Live In America in 2001.

Wooten won two Nashville Music Awards for Bassist Of The Year and is the only three-time winner of Bass Player magazine's Bass Player Of The Year. With the honors came sideman calls, leading to recordings and performances with artists like Branford Marsalis, Mike Stern, Bruce Hornsby, Chick Corea, Dave Matthews, Prince, Gov't Mule, Susan Tedeschi, Vital Tech Tones (with Scott Henderson and Steve Smith), the Jaco Pastorius Word Of Mouth Big Band, and the soundtrack of the Disney film Country Bears.

Fresh off sold-out tours with the Flecktones and Bass Extremes (with Bailey, Watson and Oteil Burbridge) in 2004, Victor is re-focusing on his solo side in 2005 thanks to a remarkable new CD, his Vanguard Records debut, Soul Circus. A three-ring affair, the disc boasts such guests as the Wooten brothers, Bootsy Collins, Arrested Development rapper/vocalist Speech, Howard Levy, Dennis Chambers, Saundra Williams, J.D. Blair, Derico Watson, Flecktone Jeff Coffin, and a who's-who of bassists, including Bailey, Burbridge, Will Lee, Rhonda Smith, Christian McBride, T.M. Stevens, Bill Dickens and Gary Grainger.

On Soul Circus, Wooten performed his usual high-wire act on a bevy of basses, but the real ringmaster was his collection of songs: The poignant "Prayer" and Prince-charged flipside "Natives" provide a thought-provoking look at our native Americans. The epic "Bass Tribute" pays homage to great thumpers past and present. "On and On" is an instant soul classic. "Cell Phone" makes a chuckle-filled, cutting-edge connection. "Higher Law" stands as a stadium-ready, rock-funk protest anthem in the best Sly Stone tradition. "Back to India" currys up simmering musical flavors. And the hip hop/jazz title track marks the sonic coming-out of the long-rumored eight-armed character seen on the CD's cover and in the liner notes: "Yes, Virginia (and the rest of the world), there is a funktopus!"

Victor Wooten has the rare ability to continuously raise the bar, always growing as an artist, and taking us to new heights. His last visit through the Bay Area was in Santa Rosa with the Flecktones; don't miss another chance to see him when he comes to the Fillmore.

The Victor Wooten Band World Tour '07
The Fillmore, San Francisco
Friday, May 4th @ 7:00 pm

Futureman's "Black Mozart Ensemble"

Often described as both enigmatic and eccentric, and without a doubt, musical genius, Roy "Futureman" Wooten is one of the most innovative, forward thinking figures in modern music. Part of what makes Wooten such an innovative musician is the incorporation of science and invention into his work. His first invention, called the "Drumitar" is used extensively in the music of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, which allows him the ability to replicate the sound of an entire contemporary drum kit, with the movement of just a few fingers on a guitar shaped instrument.

Wooten has embarked upon a new creative journey with "The Black Mozart Ensemble." Bridging the past with the present for a better future, Wooten is composing, producing, and directing a visionary new album/DVD entitled “The Black Mozart.” This project celebrates the life and music of the Black Mozart; Joseph Boulogne de Saint Georges. This 18th Century maestro and swordsman made contributions that revolutionized the world of musical creation. St. Georges used his abilities to find fame and fortune, yet as the son of a slave, remained an outsider. He fought against racism all his life, and can serve as a powerful hero for all of us as we struggle against the racism and divisiveness of today.

Although Wooten is generally considered a background performer, his desire to express his thoughtful meditations often brings him to the forefront, and due in large part to both the Wooten brothers, (his brother Victor is their famed bassist and innovator in his own right), Bela Fleck and the Flecktones' performances are always fresh and alive with improvisation and experimentation.

Wooten's Black Mozart Ensemble is comprised of young virtuoso violinists and cellists under Wooten's direction. The music is complemented by the addition of hip hop artists, and actors/narrators. The music of Black Mozart has a message for the ears, eyes and moves of today’s modern world, and Wooten states that this composition, "The Black Mozart", is a personal statement of New American Classical Roots and Dance Music with social aspirations that embraces all races of humanity.

Using Saint Georges as his inspiration, Wooten has made many innovations in the field of percussive music, having invented a keyboard technique which "utilizes modern science, dynamics and rhythms as melodic elements which draw from Africa to America, Baroque to bluegrass, classical to contemporary... and jazz to juicy funk."

Many may wonder what Wooten alludes to when he speaks of an archetypal principle. An archetype is an idealized model of a person or a copy of a concept or object. Therefore, the words of Wooten are words of a personality that connects to life through his music. Some may question music's ability to affect lives, but Wooten seems to be evidence that it does.

The great jazz drummer Max Roach once said of Wooten, upon seeing him perform, that he knew that “that was the most creative approach to drumming he had ever seen.” His second invention, the “RoyEl,” resembles a piano but plays notes not found in the traditional western music scales. His third invention, the Dorothy Graye, also resembles a smaller piano and is dedicated to his mother Dorothy who inspired a practice method to learn the keys. This instrument is based to play off of the composer’s scriabin color to sound keys, with the universal mathematics guiding the exploration of tunings, such as the periodic table of elements and the golden ratio.

In the wake of the Don Imus-Rutger's Women's basketball scandal, and the every growing debate over hip-hop and rap lyrics and it's use of degrading and debasing words, it's refreshing to find a merging of the modern and classical world in a truly innovative and positive way. Saint Georges himself might well agree.