Victor Wooten’s Soul Circus

Victor Wooten’s press bio calls him “the most influential bassist since Jaco Pastorius.” With all due respect, it can be argued that Victor has eclipsed his idol.

Jaco never hosted weeklong bass/nature camps in the Tennessee forest, where students learn from some of the biggest names in bassdom. Jaco never hosted a website (http://www.victorwooten.com), where he would dispense lessons and wisdom to fans worldwide.

Victor is out promoting his 5th solo CD, Soul Circus. Instead of offering another extreme bass workout like Show of Hands, Soul Circus is more song-oriented. That said, Victor hasn’t ditched the insane technique or bizarre time signatures. He showcases them on a CD that echoes classic funk platters like Bootsy Collins’ Ahh… The Name Is Bootsy, Baby. Victor covers Earth, Wind and Fire’s ‘Can’t Hide Love’, and his ‘Cell Phone’ updates Bootsy’s classic ‘What’s a Telephone, Bill’; Bootsy even guests on two tracks.

In a telephone conversation from his home near Nashville, Victor discusses his new CD, the state of popular music, his attitude towards the bass, and his new direction.

S&H.ca: Your new CD is called Soul Circus. What’s it about?

Wooten: I wanted to make a more radio-friendly CD - that still had integrity. The kind of CD that influenced me growing up. Guys like Sly and the Family Stone, Earth Wind and Fire and James Brown made great music that made it on the charts, but they didn’t sacrifice their integrity.

Radio records used to feature some of the best musicians of the day. Guys like (Motown’s) Funk Brothers, or Chuck Rainey playing with Steely Dan or Aretha. Stevie Wonder wrote some of the most complex music I’ve ever heard, but it’s so easy to sing.

These days, pop records are written off a formula, and treats listeners as if they were dumb.

S&H.ca: What would it take for this to change?

Wooten: I think it needs the media to wake up to the fact that people want to hear real music. People love the Dave Matthews Band, but you almost never see them on TV; they had to do it all on their own. The jam band scene is incredible: band like Phish or Gov’t Mule, but you never hear about them.

S&H.ca: Soul Circus is a family affair. Your kids open and close the CD, your brothers play on the tracks, and your wife sings backup. Why?

Wooten: My brothers are some of the best musicians I know (Roy “Future Man” Wooten also plays in the Flecktones), so it makes sense to call them. They know what I want, and they do their own thing, so it comes out better than I had envisioned.

I put my kids on the CD so that they learn music by living it. Do you learn English from a textbook? No, you learn by living around people who speak it. Same with music.”

S&H.ca: How did you hook up with Bootsy Collins?

Wooten: I always try to meet the great bass players. The Flecktones were playing in Bootsy’s hometown in Ohio and we went to his house and jammed. It was an instant friendship. He told me that I was from the Mothership, too.

S&H.ca: You’re known for a certain style of flashy bass playing, but when you’re not soloing you’re very minimal. Why is that?

Wooten: The first thing you have to remember is: flash does not equal good music. This new CD features some of the best playing I’ve ever done, but you’ll hardly hear it. That’s because I’m doing what the bass is supposed to do; it supports the other instruments, to make the other players feel really good.

In Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, I get to solo on almost every song, but for 75 per cent of the time I’m supporting everyone else. The public remembers the solo, but the other 75 per cent, that’s what’s important.

S&H.ca: Why did the Flecktones take a year off?

Wooten: We needed to. We had been out on the road for 15 years, and I had never been home for more than two months in a row. I have four kids now, and it’s become harder to leave them. We just miss each other.

I’ve learned that my career is not first, my family comes first. Jeff (Coffin, Flecktones horn player) has kids too. We’re all going to force our career into the back seat, and accept the consequences of that. We’re telling booking agents to book our tours so that we have more time off with our families, whatever the cost.

S&H.ca: What’s next?

Wooten: There’s a new (as yet untitled) Béla Fleck and the Flecktones CD coming out in January. I also have a fusion instrumental CD that I recorded at my house, with (guitarist) Mike Stern, (drummer) Dennis Chambers, and Carl Denson on sax.

Photograph by Steve Parke