Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an American bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He has been the bassist for

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones Béla may refer to: * Béla (crater), an elongated lunar crater * Béla (given name), a common Hungarian male given name See also * Bela (disambiguation) * Belá (disambiguation) * Bělá (disambiguation) Bělá, derived from ''bílá'' (''whit ...

since the group's formation in 1988 and a member of the band SMV with two other bassists, Stanley Clarke and

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

. From 2017 to 2019 he recorded as the bassist for the metal band

Nitro Nitro may refer to: Chemistry *Nitrogen, a chemical element and a gas except at very low temperatures, with which many compounds are formed: **Nitro compound, an organic compound containing one or more nitro functional groups, -NO2 **Nitroalkene, ...

. He owns Vix Records, which releases his albums. He wrote the novel ''The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music''. He later released the book's sequel, ''The Spirit of Music: The Lesson Continues,'' on February 2nd, 2021. Wooten is the recipient of five

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s. He won the Bass Player of the Year award from '' Bass Player'' magazine three times and is the first person to win the award more than once. In 2011, he was ranked No. 10 in the Top 10 Bassists of All Time by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine. In 2018-2019 Wooten was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition called

focal dystonia Focal dystonia, or focal task specific dystonia, is a neurological condition, a type of ''dystonia'', that affects a muscle or group of muscles in a specific part of the body during specific activities, causing involuntary muscular contractions and ...

in his hands and upper body, which had been limiting his ability to play in previous years, but has since abated somewhat.

Early life and career

Born to Dorothy and Elijah Wooten, Victor is the youngest of the five Wooten brothers; Regi,

Roy Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

, Rudy, and

Joseph Wooten Joseph Wooten (born December 15, 1961) is an American keyboardist, singer, songwriter, author and philanthropist. Since 1993 he has been a member of the Steve Miller Band. Early life Joseph was the fourth of five children born to Dorothy and ...

are all musicians. Regi began to teach Victor to play bass when he was two, and by the age of six, he was performing with his brothers in their family band, The Wooten Brothers Band. As a United States Air Force family, they moved often when Wooten was young. The family settled in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

in 1972. Wooten graduated from Denbigh High School in 1982. While in high school, he and his brothers played in the country music venue at

Busch Gardens Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The original park is in Tampa, Florida, and the second park is in Williamsburg, Virginia. There were also previously B ...

theme park in Williamsburg, Virginia. In 1987, he traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to visit friends that he made at the theme park. One of them was a studio engineer who introduced him to Béla Fleck, with whom he has often collaborated. In 2000, Wooten created a music program called Bass/Nature camp that was expanded into Victor Wooten's Center for Music and Nature and includes all instruments. His camps are at Wooten Woods, a 147-acre retreat in Only, Tennessee, near Nashville. Wooten co-leads the "Victor Wooten/Berklee Summer Bass Workshop" at Berklee College of Music in Boston. At Berklee and his own camps, he collaborates with Berklee Bass Department chair, Steve Bailey. The two bassists have been teaching together since the early 1990s. He was featured on the May/June 2014 cover of ''

Making Music Magazine ''Making Music'' magazine was founded in 2004 as a bimonthly lifestyle music magazine devoted to the recreational musician and all instruments and genres of music. The publication's tagline is "Better Living Through Recreational Music Making." T ...

'' to discuss the camps.

Instruments

Wooten is most often seen playing

Fodera Fodera is an American manufacturer of electric bass guitars in Brooklyn, New York. Vinny Fodera and Joey Lauricella launched the company around 1983 after dissolving their working relationship with Ken Smith Basses. The company also manufactures a ...

basses, of which he has a signature model. His most famous Fodera, a 1983 Monarch Deluxe he refers to as "number 1," sports a

Kahler Tremolo System The Kahler Tremolo System is an electric guitar bridge (instrument)#Tremolo bridges, bridge with a cam operated Vibrato systems for guitar, vibrato arm system. The original flat mount and stud mount models were invented and patented by Dave Sto ...

model 2400 bridge. Fodera's "Yin Yang" basses (co-designed by and created for Wooten) incorporates the Yin Yang symbol—which Wooten uses in various media—as a focal point of the top's design and construction. The symbol is created from two pieces of naturally finished wood (Ebony and Holly, for example), fitted together to create the Yin-Yang pattern. As well as playing electric bass (both fretted and fretless) and the double bass, he played cello in high school. He still plays cello occasionally with the Flecktones as well as in the 2012 Sword and Stone/Words and Tones tour.

Discography

Solo Albums

* ''

A Show of Hands ''A Show of Hands'' is a live album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1989. The band released a video of the same name, originally on VHS and LaserDisc, the same year. A DVD version was released as part of a box set in 2006, and as ...

'' (

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

, 1996) * '' What Did He Say?'' (Compass, 1997) * ''

Yin-Yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and ya ...

'' (Compass, 1999) * '' Live in America'' (Compass, 2001) * '' Soul Circus'' (

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

, 2005) * ''

Palmystery ''palmystery'' is the sixth studio album from United States, American Jazz bassist Victor Wooten. Track listing #"2 Timers" - (4:51) #"Cambo" - (5:25) #"I Saw God" - (4:20) #"The Lesson" - (5:55) #"Left, Right & Center" - (7:11) #"Sifu" - (7:36) ...

'' ( Heads Up, 2008) * ''The Music Lesson'' (Vix, 2011) * ''Words & Tones'' (Vix, 2012) * ''Sword & Stone'' (Vix, 2012) * ''Trypnotyx'' (Vix, 2017)

As the Wootens

* ''The Wootens'' with The Wootens (Arista, 1985)

As Bass Extremes - with Steve Bailey

* ''Cookbook'' As Bass Extremes with Steve Bailey (Tone Center, 1998) * ''Just Add Water'' As Bass Extremes with Steve Bailey (Tone Center, 2001) * ''S'Low Down'' As Bass Extremes with Steve Bailey (Vix, 2022)

As
Vital Tech Tones The Vital Tech Tones were a fusion trio composed of Vital Information drummer Steve Smith, Tribal Tech guitarist Scott Henderson, and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones bassist Victor Wooten Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an Ame ...
- with Scott Henderson and Steve Smith

* ''

Vital Tech Tones The Vital Tech Tones were a fusion trio composed of Vital Information drummer Steve Smith, Tribal Tech guitarist Scott Henderson, and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones bassist Victor Wooten Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an Ame ...

'' (Tone Center, 1998) * ''

VTT2 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd is a state-owned and controlled non-profit limited liability company. VTT is the largest research and technology company and research centre conducting applied research in Finland. It provides resear ...

'' (Tone Center, 2000)

As SMV - with Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller

* '' Thunder'', as SMV (Heads Up, 2008)

With Béla Fleck and the Flecktones

* ''

'' (Warner Bros., 1990) * ''

Flight of the Cosmic Hippo ''Flight of the Cosmic Hippo'' is the second album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1991. It reached number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. The album title came from an audience member who suggested "Flight ...

'' (Warner Bros., 1991) * ''

UFO Tofu ''UFO Tofu'' is the third album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1992. The title is a palindrome, which is also a musical theme in the title track; the idea originated with the musician Baby Gramps. Production The album was produce ...

'' (Warner Bros., 1992) * '' Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (Warner Bros., 1993) * ''Tales from the Acoustic Planet'' (Warner Bros., 1995) * ''

Live Art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

'' (Warner Bros., 1996) * ''

Left of Cool ''Left of Cool'' is the fifth studio album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1998. History ''Left of Cool'' is the first album to feature Jeff Coffin, who had already toured with the band after the departure of Howard Levy. ...

'' (Warner Bros., 1998) * ''

Greatest Hits of the 20th Century ''Greatest Hits of the 20th Century'' is the seventh album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and their first greatest hits compilation album. Reception In her Allmusic review, music critic Stacia Proefrock wrote "There isn't a dud in ...

'' (Warner Bros., 1999) * '' Outbound'' (Columbia, 2000) * '' Live at the Quick'' (Columbia, 2002) * ''

Little Worlds ''Little Worlds'' is the tenth album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 2003. The album was released as a 3-disc set. Ten tracks from the set were also released on a single disc called ''Ten from Little Worlds''. The album contains s ...

'' (Columbia, 2003) * '' Ten From Little Worlds'' (Columbia, 2003) * ''

The Hidden Land ''The Hidden Land'' is the eighth studio album and twelfth album overall released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 2006. It was recorded before the band's year-long hiatus during 2005 and released afterward. ''The Hidden Land'' won t ...

'' (Columbia, 2006) * ''

Jingle All the Way ''Jingle All the Way'' is a 1996 American Christmas family comedy film directed by Brian Levant. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad as two rival fathers, mattress salesman Howard Langston (Schwarzenegger) and postal worker Myron Larabe ...

'' (Rounder, 2008) * '' Rocket Science'' (eOne, 2011)

With others

* Darol Anger, ''Heritage'' (Six Degrees, 1997) * Steve Bailey, ''Evolution'' (Victor, 1994) * Eric Bibb, ''Jericho Road'' (DixieFrog, 2013) * Paul Brady, ''Spirits Colliding'' (Fontana 1995) *

Alex Bugnon Alex Bugnon (born October 10, 1958) is a jazz pianist and composer from Montreux, Switzerland. He is a nephew of Donald Byrd. Bugnon studied at the Paris Conservatory and the Mozart Academy in Salzburg. At age nineteen, he moved to the U.S. and ...

, ''107 degrees in the Shade'' (Orpheus/Epic, 1991) * Jeff Coffin, ''Mutopia'' (Compass, 2008) * Jeff Coffin, ''The Inside of the Outside'' (Ear Up, 2015) *

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

, ''Tha Funk Capital of the World'' (Mascot, 2011) * Bootsy Collins, ''World Wide Funk'' (Mascot, 2017) *

Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist. Early life Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...

, ''Cause and Effect'' (Tone Center, 1998) *

John Cowan John Cowan (born August 24, 1953) is an American soul music and progressive bluegrass vocalist and bass guitar player. He was the lead vocalist and bass player for the New Grass Revival. Cowan became the band's bassist in 1972 after the departure ...

, ''Sixty'' (Compass, 2014) * The Duhks, ''The Duhks'' (Sugar Hill, 2005) *

Stuart Duncan Stuart Duncan (born April 14, 1964) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. Life Duncan was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band. He ...

, ''Stuart Duncan'' (Rounder, 1992) * Tommy Emmanuel, ''Little by Little'' (Favored Nations, 2010) *

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

, ''Soulgrass'' (BHM, 2005) * Bill Evans, ''The Other Side of Something'' (Intuition, 2007) *

Gov't Mule Gov't Mule (pronounced "Government Mule") is an American Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 as a side project of the Allman Brothers Band by guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody. Fans often refer to Gov't Mule simply as ''Mule''. ...

, ''The Deepest End'' (Evangeline, 2003) * David Grier, ''Lone Soldier'' (Rounder, 1995) * David Grier, ''Evocative'' (Dreadnought, 2009) *

Greg Howe Gregory Howe (born December 8, 1963)Malusardi, Guglielmo (October 2006) Guitar Nine Records. Retrieved 2012-10-14. is an American guitarist and composer. An active musician across four decades, he has released ten studio albums in addition to co ...

and

Dennis Chambers Dennis Milton Chambers (born May 9, 1959) is an American drummer. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2001. Early life Chambers was born on May 9, 1959. He began drumming at the age of four years, and was gigging in Bal ...

, ''

Extraction Extraction may refer to: Science and technology Biology and medicine * Comedo extraction, a method of acne treatment * Dental extraction, the surgical removal of a tooth from the mouth Computing and information science * Data extraction, the pro ...

'' (Tone Center, 2003) * India Arie, ''Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship'' (Motown, 2006) *

Keb Mo Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician and five-time Grammy Award winner. He is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link ...

, ''The Reflection'' (Yolabelle, 2011) * Buckshot LeFonque, ''Buckshot LeFonque'' (Columbia, 1994) *

Natalie MacMaster Natalie MacMaster (born June 13, 1972) is a Canadian fiddler from Troy, Inverness County, Nova Scotia who plays Cape Breton fiddle music. MacMaster has toured with the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana, and Alison Krauss, and has recorded ...

, ''Blueprint'' (Rounder, 2003) * Dave Matthews Band, ''Live in Chicago at the United Center 12.19.98'' (RCA, 2001) * Jaco Pastorius, ''Word of Mouth Revisited'' (Heads Up, 2003) * Mark O'Connor, ''The New Nashville Cats'' (Warner Bros., 1991) *

Charlie Peacock Charles William Ashworth (born August 10, 1956), known professionally as Charlie Peacock, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and author. His albums include ''Love Press Ex-Curio'', ''Arc of the Circle'' and ''No Man's L ...

, ''Love Press Ex-Curio'' (Runway Network, 2005) *

Jonathan Scales Jonathan Scales (born September 14, 1984) is an American steel pannist and composer. He has recorded and produced seven albums, the most recent being ''Mindstate Music'', released in 2019 on Ropeadope Records. Since 2007, Scales has recorded an ...

, ''Jonathan Scales Fourchestra'' (Ropeadope, 2013) *

Shane Theriot Shane Theriot (pronounced "terry-oh") (born October 4, 1972) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is the musical director, guitarist, and band leader for Hall & Oates and musical director/guitarist for the television show ''Live ...

, ''Highway 90'' (Shose, 2000) *

Steve Weingart Steve Weingart (born March 1966 in Dayton, Ohio) is a jazz-funk keyboard player based in Los Angeles, California, United States, who has recorded and performed internationally with an array of well known musical artists. Amongst many other well-k ...

, ''Dialogue'' (Skeewa Music, 2011) * Matt White, ''Worlds Wide'' (Ear Up, 2017) *

Keller Williams Keller Williams is an American singer, songwriter and musician who combines elements of bluegrass, folk, alternative rock, reggae, electronica/dance, jazz, funk, along with other assorted genres. He is often described as a 'one-man jam-band' d ...

, ''Dream'' (SCI Fidelity, 2007) *

Cory Wong Cory Wong (born c. 1985) is a Grammy-nominated American guitarist, bassist, songwriter, podcast-host, and producer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has released many works as a solo artist and in partnership with others. His background spans ...

, ''Direct Flyte'' (Roundwound, 2022)

As sideman - with Mike Stern

* ''These Times'' (ESC, 2003) * ''Who Let the Cats Out?'' (Heads Up, 2006) * ''All Over the Place'' (Heads Up, 2012) * ''Trip'' (Heads Up, 2017)

Bibliography

* ''The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music'', ,

Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initial ...

, 2008 * ''The Spirit of Music: The Lesson Continues'', ,

, 2021

References

External links

*
Victor Wooten Center for Music and Nature

Wooten Woods
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooten, Victor L. 1964 births Living people People from Mountain Home, Idaho African-American guitarists African-American rock musicians African-American male rappers American bass guitarists American jazz bass guitarists American funk bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Béla Fleck and the Flecktones members Grammy Award winners Jazz fusion bass guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American rappers American male jazz musicians SMV (band) members Chick Corea Elektric Band members Vital Tech Tones members Heads Up International artists Vanguard Records artists Compass Records artists Musicians from Idaho