To say that Victor Wooten is a phenomenal musician would be a gross understatement. Not only is Wooten the bassist for the critically acclaimed (and five-time Grammy winning) jazz fusion / post-bop / progressive / bluegrass group of musicians known as Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, but he also creates his own music – sometimes alone or sometimes with other musicians. Wooten was named “Bass Player of the Year” by Bass Player magazine three times in a row and was the first person to win the award more than once. Don’t believe the hype? A quick YouTube search will quickly put any doubts to rest.
Now, over 20 years after Bela Fleck and the Flecktones first formed, Wooten is something of a renaissance man. He seems able to play almost any instrument. He enjoys acrobatics and circus tricks. He is a father of four (two girls and two boys). He is passionate about nature, and he enjoys giving back to the community – something he does through visits to schools and through his camps (Vix Camps at Wooten Woods Retreat) that combine learning about nature and music. When I spoke to Wooten, he was in between camps and was able to briefly chat with me about his upcoming performance at the Ark in Ann Arbor and more.
What gave you the idea to start doing camps?
We are in our thirteenth year. It’s all ages, all instruments and tons of fun. In the early 90s I took a class in nature skills and wilderness survival, and, when I was studying with this man, I just realized that what he called nature and awareness, I called music. So, in my mind, it seemed like he was teaching music. I took a lot of his exercises and turned them into music exercises, and they really work. We do a lot of blindfolded exercises because when one sense is taken away, the rest are heightened. For one of our exercises, we eat a meal blindfolded and silent. A lot of it is just about the approach. You think about how you learned to talk. That’s the approach that I use for music. No one really taught you to talk. No one told you to practice. You didn’t know you were a beginner. When you were young, no one even corrected you when you made a mistake. Actually, instead of your parents correcting you and telling you you were saying things wrong, they started saying things like you. And so you are always made to feel good about how you talk, even if it’s a mistake. When you’re learning to talk, you’re allowed to talk to people who already know how to talk. So you get a chance, to use a musical term, to jam with professionals all the time. That causes you to learn quickly. Within a couple of years, you can communicate with just about anyone. But we don’t follow that natural process in music. We put people in classes – beginner level, intermediate. You have to practice hard. You’re not allowed to play with professionals until you’re good enough. And it’s just a process that slows things down. So basically we’re just following what I call a natural process.
What’s your favorite thing about playing music?
One of the biggest things I like about performing is the feedback from the audience. If you think about it, it’s the only thing in the world that I can think of where everyone there is on your side. They paid money to come support you and what you love to do. What I’d be doing even if no one was around, people pay to support me doing it. The closest thing I can think to that is a sporting event, but the only difference there is half of the people there are against you. And so music is kind of in a world by itself.
I know that you played in a band with your family growing up.
I’m the youngest of five brothers, and when I was born, they already knew they needed a bass player – so that was me. Almost from birth, I had a role to fulfill.
What do you like about playing in a band versus playing solo?
It’s always fun playing with other great musicians. That’s where you really learn. When I play solo, it’s mostly my own music and I’m pretty much in charge of it, so it’s just a way of experiencing a different part of being musical. I like both. I like every musical thing I get to do. It helps me exercise a different part of who I am.
Do you link music to any sort of spirituality?
Everything is linked to spirituality. Whether you recognize it or not. Music is something that most people can’t see. You just feel it. It’s easy to understand the spiritual side of something like that. But the more people learn about it, it becomes an intellectual task – then I believe it becomes less spiritual for a lot of people.
Do you buy into any one particular religion?
No – the same way I don’t buy into only one style of music. Music is bigger than any one style, the same way that God, if you want to call her that, is bigger than any one religion.
What do you enjoy other than music?
I have four kids that keep me busy doing all sorts of things. They play music and they sing and they dance. They do all the things I wanted to do. They’re better acrobats now. They’re better singers. They’re doing it all. I like to read. I’m a big nature buff, so I like being outdoors and learning about nature, tracking animals, learning about birds and plants. I love anything athletic. I love the circus – not only watching it but learning and doing some of the things in the circus. Crazy habits and pastimes. Whatever I like, I learn how to do it – whether it’s acrobatics, tightrope walking, juggling, unicycling, magic …that kind of thing.
What’s one of the things that you are looking forward to when you visit The Ark?
This show is going to be very different from what anyone has ever seen me do. I have a collection of seven great musicians who are all switching instruments in the show. Four of us are bass players, but it’s rare that we ever are playing bass at the same time. Some of us are playing horns, cello, upright bass, guitars, all sorts of different things. So the whole band is switching instruments – even in the middle of songs at times. It’s a lot of fun. I like [the Ark] a lot. Even though it’s small, there’s a lot of benefit to it because you can look into the eyes of everyone there in the audience. I have a lot of friends in Michigan and in Ann Arbor. There’s a high school there that I go and visit – and actually we just had a camp for their jazz department. It’s just a great town, a great place to play, and I’m looking forward to it.
Victor Wooten will perform on July 2nd at 8 p.m. at The Ark in Ann Arbor. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased at theark.org. For more information about Vix Camps, visit vixcamps.com.