Not enough superlatives can express the eye-popping skill; talent and entertainment personified by Victor Lemonte Wooten and his siblings Reggie and Joseph. A seasoned pro by the age of eight, his older brother, Reggie “The Teacher,” Wooten, taught Victor bass at the age of three. Also accompanying VLW on his current 2003 tour are drummer, Derico Watson and bassists/vocalists Anthony Wellington and M.C. Divinity. This sextet provided enormous bang for the buck at their Great American Music Hall show with impressive funk, rap, soul, rock and jazz instrumentalism combined with surprisingly strong vocal skills. Employing plenty of grooves from the James Brown / PFunk / Larry Graham cannons and innovating well beyond these “funkdamental,” forefathers, equaling the skills of the likes of Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorious, Victor Wooten appears to be one of the greatest all time entertainers of this, or any generation.
Guitarist, Reggie Wooten, keyboardist, Joseph Wooten and drummer Derico Watson all played lengthy solo segments during the three and half hour performance that showcased immense musicality and the capacity to display a sustained impressiveness of their innate talents. Reggie’s approach was equal parts Frank Zappa, Stanley Jordan, Jimi Hendrix with a lot of Bootsy Collins thrown in the mix. Late in the show he touched on some of his influences during a pounding 20 minute solo which included stinging tone, string tapping skills, monstrous growling sound washes and a surprisingly subtle soul vocal interlude that morphed into a stadium rocking double dose of "Purple Haze > Iron Man."
Brother Joseph Wooten (of the Steve Miller Band) proved to be the equal of his siblings chops wise, but also showed a subtler, more comedic side in his self-penned indictment of the Bush administration’s current activities, “Testosterone,” and a tribute written about his father introduced with a humorous personal statement. Employing several keyboards, a theremin, a funky Heil Talk Box and a terrific voice, Joseph laid down the perfect foundation for his brother’s string based explorations. Derico Watson also showed his own unique and powerful voice behind the skins and seemed to be dancing with glee on his drum throne throughout the performance. His solo displayed a strong sense of his capacity to play with time, rhythm and dynamics in both subtle and unsubtle ways. Derico Watson is a solid, powerful and flashy timekeeper.
The band as a quintet, with roadie/rapper and vocalist Anthony Wellington backing Victor’s melodic explorations on a second bass guitar really stirred the crowd up by requesting that they suggest a difficult rhythm for the band to use on their tune “Nobody Knows My Name.” So literally, without missing a beat, they spun through a powerful performance of this complex tune in 11/8 time.
Special guest, M.C. Divinity provided entertaining support as a host, rapper, singer and surprisingly strong funk bassist and even led the Wooten brothers through a number of her own raps and songs, including the funky self-penned "D-I-V-I-N-I-T-Y." Her skills as a rapper were equal to her tone and touch as a funk bassist and its no wonder Victor Wooten sponsors her. It seems likely that M.C. Divinity will rise to greater fame in the coming years.
Towards the end of the show Victor stepped up for three or four solo performances featuring varying approaches to the instrument. He played five string bass with a midi-pickup and some sort of digital mouthpiece to modulate the output of the bass. He switched basses numerous times throughout a song, engaged in tapping, false harmonics, bends, trills, counterpoint finger style techniques and a fat bag of tricks that showed off his deep and thoroughly considered approach to the instrument. He also managed to show that as a soloist he is as captivating as any band. The crowd took notice when a particularly melodic passage in his solo turned toward an expressive take at the grade school etude, "Chopsticks" which segued into the introductory theme from "Peter and the Wolf" by Sergei Prokofiev.
The shows final moments included a tribute to the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King and a heartfelt pledge by Victor to do his best to use his music to bridge the social gap between the races, bring racial barriers down and ensure that Dr. King’s dream becomes a reality.
The final jam featured Victor playing a half dozen basses including one with LED lights embedded in the neck sensitive to the pulse of his rhythmic playing patterns. Vic and Joseph even played cat and mouse performing a finger-tapping duet upon each other’s guitar simultaneously.
The Wooten’s are not above employing gimmickry as a device to incite audience interest. But in their hands, these cheap tricks become something captivating, astounding, and beautiful on the scale of the best art has to offer. Pablo Picasso chose to be abstract only after proving his formidable talents as a representational artist. Similarly, the Wooten Brothers Band resort to abstract oddball techniques, instrumental tricks and the use of unconventional approaches that produce funky, melodic, inspiring and ultimately beautiful music that will satisfy any audience.
Words and Images by: Ted Silverman
JamBase | West Coast
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Ted Silverman is a freelance journalist / photojournalist living in San Francisco. Ted Silverman is not a critic, but someone who enjoys sharing his love of great musical performances through essays and photographs which attempt to capture the essence of live music in the making, freely evolving and often spontaneously created. Ted often shares his thoughts with the PauseRecord.com audience.
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