Victor Wooten
Palmystery

Victor Lemonte Wooten was born in 1964 in the state of Virginia, USA; from a very young age, seeking direct contact with musical instruments with his small hands, he showed a particular aptitude and an early interest in music, but his innate talent would only come out once he reached the right age to pick up the electric bass. From the age of five, he played with his brothers' group, "The Wootens," and over the years, he collaborated with various musicians, but the real turning point came in 1988 when he was invited by Béla Fleck (banjo) to become the official bassist of "Béla and the Flecktones," a jazz fusion band with great technical depth and creative value that earned several accolades thanks to its fusion of bluegrass (a genre that combines Irish music with blues and gospel), jazz, and funk. Starting in 1996, the boy with magical hands embarked on a solo career, thanks to which he would be definitively consecrated by critics as one of the greatest bassists of all time, particularly for the innovations he brought to the "Slap" technique.

"Palmystery" (2008)

1 2 times

2 Cambo

3 I saw god

4 The lesson

5 Left, right, e center

6 Sifu

7 Miss U

8 Flex

9 The gospel

10 Song for my father

11 Happy song

12 Us 2

The musician's fifth studio release sees him embracing more experimentation; while not abandoning that funk-jazz predisposition that has characterized his previous publications and always generally categorizes his way of playing, the bassist renews his sound by focusing on more particular sonorities, which culminate especially in the beautiful "Sifu"; among rarefied and melancholic atmospheres (created with the support of keyboard carpets) and sampled voices, the Arabic lament of Amir Ali and Alvin Chea emerges from afar; over this "choreography" of sounds, Victor Wooten, Mike Stern (guitar), and Shawn "Thunder" Wallace (sax) weave their melodic lines and improvisations, often intertwining them with each other, creating a crescendo of emotions destined unfortunately to end after about 7.30 minutes. Amir Ali, in addition to lending his voice to some compositions on the album, is also a composer along with Wooten of the funk-jazz "Cambo," where again the Arabic melodies make their appearance, only to be mitigated by the intervention of Saundra Williams' female voice, thus bringing the initial theme to a sweet variation; I assure you of pure enjoyment in the exchange of rhythmic solos between percussion and Wooten's solid slap, which will resume to conclude the piece, that sweet discourse initiated by Williams, improvising like only a master like him can do. Clearly reminiscent of flamenco, the beautiful bass solo "The lesson"; his way of playing is always hard to imitate, even though here, the bassist does not indulge in too many virtuoso displays, favoring simplicity over intricate technical evolutions.

The more traditional fusion makes its appearance with "Left, right, e center" where Mike Stern, Victor Wooten, and Neal Evans are supported in their session by no less than three drummers, among whom Dennis Chambers must be mentioned. Highly enjoyable is the Latin funk "I saw God" where we taste again some elements that characterized "Soul Circus." Also worth mentioning is the melancholic and particular soul "Gospel," where Wooten involves his very large family for the vocal parts. "Flex," "Song for my father" and "Happy song" are three pieces of pure funk-jazz, of which the second mentioned stands out more prominently, where Karl Denson's sax plays the theme and then gives way to a splendid exchange of solos; among all the soloists, besides the saxophonist and Wooten, the other exceptional bassist Steve Bailey particularly stands out; Derico Watson is outstanding on drums, switching from funk to swing depending on how the theme or the soloists' improvisations change.

There's no need to continue describing each track; the only thing to do to realize the true value of this artist is to listen to him; Victor Wooten was particularly inspired by the master Jaco Pastorius, uses the slap like perhaps no other bassist can, the musical taste of his phrasing is worthy of Marcus Miller and Stanley Clarke, and his technique is elevated to disproportionate levels; virtuosic like the Canadian Alain Caron but certainly more sensitive, he possesses all the qualities that make a master of the electric bass, and perhaps even something more.