English: Victor Wooten playing his bass guitar at the Belly Up, 2006-03-04. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Originally posted at Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries…..
So this morning as I was looking at the people born on this date, I thought how badly you must feel every year now as you celebrate your birthday on this tragic date. I think I’d celebrate either the day before or the day after, or maybe you just say, hey it was my day before you ruined it!
Two names stood out Leo Kottke, born on this day in 1945 in Athens Ga. I didn’t know that Leo is one of those musicians whose music I should listen to more often!! Oh, by the way I didn’t know he was born in Athens!! The other name was Victor Wooten whose name I know but couldn’t place where I knew it from. I did remember though that he played bass!! So my first stop was at Wikipedia:
Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an American bass player, composer, author, producer, and recipient of five Grammy Awards.[1]
Wooten has won the “Bass Player of the Year” award from Bass Player magazine three times in a row, and was the first person to win the award more than once.[1] In addition to a solo career and collaborations with various artists, Wooten has been the bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones since the group’s formation in 1988.
In 2008, Wooten joined Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller to record an album. The trio of bassists, under the name SMV, released Thunder in August 2008 and began a supporting tour the same month.[2]
Wooten has also written a novel titled “The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music“.[3] On his website he has stated that he is currently writing a sequel and intends to release at least three more books
Now I remember the name!! Bela Fleck and the Flecktones!! So now my next stop was Victor’s website to find out a little more about him and his music!
Wooten, now a five-time Grammy winner, hit the worldwide scene in 1990 as a founding member of the super-group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Continuing to blaze a musical trail with the band, Victor has also become widely known for his own Grammy nominated solo recordings and tours.
Among other things, he is a loving husband and father of four, a skilled naturalist and teacher, a published author, a magician and acrobat, and has won every major award given to a bass guitarist including being voted Bassist of the Year in Bass Player Magazine’s readers poll three times (the only person to win it more than once.) In 2011, Rolling Stone Magazine voted Victor one of the Top Ten Bassist of ALL TIME.
…. A few years after he began touring with the Flecktones, Victor released his first solo project, A Show of Hands. Recorded with only a 4-string bass, no multi-tracking, and a lot of groove and soul, this revolutionary CD was voted one of the most important bass records of all time. Read More
Damn another of those people who can do everything, while all people like me can do is listen and work!
In between my stops at Wikipedia and Victorwooten.com I stopped at YouTube and watched this video! As I watched the opening of the video, I thought “Is he really playing a bass?” and then “Amazing Grace” started and I thought that the first comment I read was spot on!
Mathew Varghese: Before Wooten played this, it was called Grace!! So Happy Birthday, Victor! Now I need to go to MOG and find Show of Hands and more of Victor’s Wooten music!
