Bassist, singer and songwriter Victor Wooten returns to Australia with his brothers.
By Chris Lambie
Five-time Grammy Award winning bass-player and singer Victor Wooten has recorded and performed with the likes of Bootsy Collins, Branford Marsalis, Keb’ Mo’ and Chic Corea. He’s also a founding member of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. His return to Australia will be Victor’s first with his band of (literal) brothers.
You grew up in a musical family. As the youngest, were you the ‘show-off’ or ‘class clown’?
Growing up the youngest of five musical brothers was the best. My brothers were my heroes, like my super heroes. They treated me like an equal. Reggie would teach me routines and little tricks to drive the crowd wild. So if I was a show-off it was because my brothers taught me how. As a very young kid, I’d play with my bass behind my head, or lay it on the floor and play it like a piano, kick my legs and all these things. It was a great way to grow up.
You were named in Rolling Stone’s Top 10 Bassists of All Time. Who were your bass heroes?
Reggie started playing the guitar and ukulele. Roy played drums, beating on cardboard boxes. Rudy had a plastic flute and then a plastic saxophone. Reggie taught Joseph to play keyboards then started teaching me to play the bass when I was about two years old. He’s only eight years older than me. I thought he was a grown man. By the time I was 5 or 6, we were the opening band for Curtis Mayfield on his Superfly tour. I was listening to great music at an early age. Earth Wind & Fire, Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones. I was influenced by all those bass players. Then that jazz fusion – Return To Forever with Stanley Clarke, Weather Report with Jaco Pastorius and Alphonso Johnson, John McLaughlin. Early on, I got an Alembic bass [like] Stanley Clarke. A very, very high-end bass. I had many heroes. I didn’t know all their names – like Chuck Rainey or Duck Dunn – but I knew their basslines. I’ve been very lucky to tour and play with some. Bootsy Collins, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, drummers like Dennis Chambers, Omar Hakim. Meeting them, they’re like gods to you, but they treat you like equals. It’s hard to claim that status. What I learn from them is, they too are human. It makes what they do seem attainable, but with my own voice.
As children of military parents, you re-located often. Do you enjoy being on the road?
It was just natural to me. Touring with my brothers is easy because we know each other so well. For me, being on tour is like a free vacation where I get paid for doing what I love to do. And I get to make people happy. Like anything it can get tiring but I call it a ‘good tired’. I hope to do it for a long time.
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones broke sonic boundaries. How was the repertoire developed?
When I met Bela in ‘87 or ‘88, he was putting a band together for a TV show. He’d just met Howard Levy who played harmonica in an interesting new way. Bela asked if I knew any drummers? I told him about Roy. Bela asked, ‘Who does he play like? Lenny White? Buddy Rich?’ I said, ‘He plays like Roy Wooten’. So Bela called him and didn’t even hear Roy play. He just loved what they talked about and hired him. He flew him to Nashville and it was just the three of us in Bela’s living room and boy, did we have a blast! Bela didn’t tell us the key or time signature or the chords. He just played, allowing us to react and respond with no pre-conceived ideas. And in many cases the music changed. It was the birth of the Flecktones sound. Adding Howard on harmonica and keys filled it out even more. Bela let us bring ourselves to the music. That takes a lot of clarity, courage and trust. If we messed it up too much, he could bring it back. I try to do that with my friends. That vision.
You wear many creative and nurturing hats. (Teacher, acrobat, family man, magician…!) How important is it to have ‘other lives’ outside music?
If you have no life, what is your music about? For young people, I say ‘Don’t spend all your time in a practice room’. Music is my career but I’m still inspired by other things life has to offer. A lot of my energy comes from the earth, birds that sing just because the sun came up. The wonderful people in my life. We lost our brother Rudy in 2010 but I can still feel him and hear his music in my head.
What can Australian audiences expect on stage?
I can guarantee people will see and hear things they’ve never come across before. Reggie on guitar is going to blow your minds. Roy on drums – you never know what he’s going to do. Joseph on keyboards is just amazing. He’s played with The Steve Miller Band since 1993. We’re all singers also. There’ll be dance steps, new music, acrobatic guitar stuff. We’re playing downunder so we may even play on our heads! Prepare yourselves. Buckle your seatbelts.
Victor Wooten & The Wooten Brothers will be touring in May/June. Details and tickets available here: Gerald Allman Events