Music is a powerful communication tool — it causes us to laugh, cry, think and question. Bassist and five-time Grammy winner Victor Wooten asks us to approach music the same way we learn verbal language — by embracing mistakes and playing as often as possible.”
Prior to last Wednesday’s performance at the Majestic, Victor Wooten gave an enlightening lecture at Union South, claiming that music is a functional language that must be learned alongside the experts. As a baby, you don’t learn a language from a set of fundamental rules like a music scale. You babble, copy your parents, and eventually carve your own path. Watch Wooten’s TED talk here.
Wooten was far from all talk. This man, along with his band, were some of the most talented musicians I have witnessed. Perhaps playing with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones had something to do with his decision to seek out those who shared his musical intellect. Borrowing Shania Twain’s drummer, numerous heads of prestigious music schools, and a phenomenal singer in Crystal Peterson, Victor would have his way.
Wooten’s music was high-spirited, catchy, relatable, and touching. With “I Saw God the Other Day,” Wooten brought faith to the crowd without a hint of religion. The dueling drummers on opposite sides of the stage were cracking up at each other. Solos went on for more than ten minutes, relaying from instrument to instrument.
Yet this was only the simple side of the show. No musician played the same instrument for two songs in a row. Victor moved from the standing bass to the cello to the electric cello to the guitar to a different bass to… I lost track. His bass, though not a fish, had the shiniest of scales. Another bassist was rocking a fretless six-string bass.
It felt like Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Each musician would stare at one another, waiting to play off their next move with the element of abruptness or silence. Were these songs rehearsed? Because I swear the entire three-hour show was improvised on the spot.
Well, I guess Peterson’s covers of Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoy” and The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” were not improvisation; however, they were amazing. Her jazzy voice hit all the right notes, thus avoiding criticism for covering two untouchable artists.
Quote of the night: During one of Wooten’s sexy guitar solos, guy next to me says, “I bet Mitt Romney can’t do that.”
What could they possibly to do make this show even better? Slap the air-bass. As one musician played the air-bass and mouthed the notes like a champ, Wooten stood next to him, playing that exact, intricate solo. Mind blown.
Things like this were happening with every song. Each musician created their own techniques of playing their instrument, as if they were all self-taught. Wooten slapped the cello like a bass. One drummer put a drumstick in his mouth and hit it with the other stick until it started to make funky noises. The third bassist would sing the notes as he played. Wooten constantly twirled the bass guitar around his back and over his head. All right already, guys, we get that you love performing.
Before this show, I genuinely thought that I loved music. I even thought I was decent at the instruments I’ve played. Now that I’ve seen Wooten and his band perform, my interests and skills were put to shame by his glowing passion and superhuman abilities. This concert was one to attend and one to remember. Bass-ically, if you weren’t there, you’re in treble. Bad joke.