 Victor Wooten |
 Joesph Wooten |
 Victor Wooten |
Story and photos by Matt Schwenke
Stepping aside from playing bass for the ultra-talented Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Victor Wooten has gathered his own group of talented musicians to tour with in support of his third solo release Soul Circus. Like an announcer drawing people to a side show, a light-hearted video introduction billed Wooten as an eight-armed oddity that must be witnessed to believe. Then, as if convincing the self-described "Funktopus" to appear from the shadows, Wooten's band pounded drums in an intro that eventually revealed the bassist standing on a riser at the back of the stage. With side-show art coloring the set and lights blinking wildly, Wooten immediately began displaying his unique ability to make the bass sound as if it really were being played with eight hands.Though Wooten can get extremely technical with some of his playing (calling out measures of 7, 9, and 11 while on stage), the amount of funk in the night's performance made the show approachable for any music lover. Bass-heavy throughout most of the night, Wooten created deep, dance grooves with songs from the new album like "Victa"-- the chorus line goes, "My name is Victa, I be playing like a playa' play." And play he did. Showing his love for the bassists that have influenced him, Wooten was phenomenal in "Bass Tribute" as he conjured up the sounds of Jaco Pastorius, Bootsy Collins, Larry Graham, and others. Wooten also gave a little history lesson in playing and singing the same notes as Robert Wilson did with the Gap Band.
Proving that his band can rock too, Wooten and company exploded into a run of rock-influenced jams that started with Wooten's own "Higher Law." Letting his older brother Regi, who started teaching Victor how to play bass when Victor was just two years old, take over the stage with his guitar, a Steve Vai-like amount of notes began emerging as the band went through a funky version of Zeppelin's "Kashmir" and a blazing version of Hendrix's "Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire." After raising the crowd to a standing ovation, Regi handed the spotlight over to brother Joseph, who added his fire to the mix by making the keys sound like a guitar. Cooling things back down briefly, Victor later played an elegant version of "Amazing Grace" with precise harmonic notes on the bass-- the room grew respectfully silent while Wooten showed yet another side of his talent.
The evening also showcased the wonderfully strong singing of Saundra Williams and the multiple talents of MC Divinity, who provided raps and some funky bass of her own. With all pistons firing, the group was stellar in "Soul Circus" and "Natives," and later in distracting the crowd long enough in a reprise of "Victa" that allowed Wooten to seem to magically appear at the back of the stage. With strobing lights revealing a Victor Wooten playing bass with fake arms attached momentarily, when the bassist reappeared to shake hands with the crowd at the end of the show, it was hard to believe that he, in fact, did not have eight arms.
Victor Wooten
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