If you have ever seen Victor Wooten play, nothing I will say here should be new to you. OK, the anecdote I relate below will be new, but not much else. I am guessing that not everybody has seen the man do his thing and if I can do a little bit to help new folks discover him, well then I am all over that. I am putting up 2 videos here, they are connected but note that I am putting up PART TWO first, because that is the one I really want you to see, Part One is just below it. If you have time to watch them both, I suggest you watch them in order, but if you are in a hurry, just watch the first one.
The tune being played here is Sinister Minister by the Flecktones. It is a brilliant collaborative piece that I have seen performed several times. Somewhere in the middle, the band leaves the stage except for Vic and his brother, Futureman (Roy Wooten) on percussion. Vic lets it go in a killer solo which is never the same. Watch the point at aroun 2:47 when Vic has a string break and how he deals with it. I'll pick it back up below the videos.
Part TWO
Part ONE
OK, so you've seen the string break and how Vic worked through it. When I first saw this video 3 years ago I had thought that when he broke the string he stopped and had hi "OH Sh__T!" moment, then worked through it. The next time I saw him after I saw this, I forgot to ask him about it. Then I watched the video several more times, amazed at how he pulled the whole thing off. When I saw him again I HAD to ask him about it, because by that time I just had to know what went through his head and how he recovered.
So in the fall of 2011 I got my chance and I asked him. He smiled that big grin he has and he said "You know, a LOT of people ask me about that video. I have never seen it, but I'll have to find it and watch it. I remember the gig, but I just don't remember breaking a string. It happens to me all the time, you just work through it. It was no big deal." I still find his answer a bit amazing, but that is the essence of Vic.
If you don't know much about Vic, go check out his web site and do some exploring there. Look at his music camps and the place he has created, Wooten Woods. There are also lots of other videos on you tube for you to enjoy. If I had to means I would be at one of his camps in a heartbeat, and I don't even own a bass.
All that will tell you something about his music, but it won't tell you a lot about the man. Vic is a natural musician who believes with the right type of instruction, anybody can make music. His philosophy is that it all works together, nature, music, and humanity. I can tell you that you will never meet a nicer gentleman. He is an author, composer, teacher, and performer. I could never get across how neat his approach his music is, so here is another video that is very much worth your time.
Check it out:
Vic and I are not close buddies, he barely knows me (I was actually shocked that the second time we talked, he remembered me and our prior conversation). But I can say that what I get out of music is greatly enhanced by having met and spent a little bit of time talking to him. Vic is also a huge Bill Keith fan, and hey, you know a guy has good musical taste when he is a Bill Keith fan. Truthfully, Bill and Vic share a very similar philosophy and that's why I like them both so very much. In fact, one of the pieces of advice that Vic gave me was almost identical to what Bill has told me several times "You can't play a 'bad note', you can play a wrong note, but if you follow it with the correct notes, that wrong note just became the 'right note'." You might want to get to know Vic a little better, he has a lot to share. As Vic says "You can't hold a groove if you ain't got no pockets".
Keep the Beat,
Tom
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