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Victor Wooten Trio at Dakota
Victor Wooten Trio Setlist
Tour Dates
08/18/2018 Mississippi Studios Portland, OR
08/22/2018 Yoshi's Oakland Oakland, CA 08/23/2018 Yoshi's Oakland Oakland, CA 10/29/2018 Ronnie Scott's London 10/30/2018 Ronnie Scott's London 10/31/2018 Ronnie Scott's London Read More
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A tripnotic master class of the bottom end--
Genre-bending musical experts The Victor Wooten Trio filled the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis for a triumphant four shows over two nights, and we were fortunate enough to catch the final performance of their local run. The group (bassist Victor Wooten, Sax/flutist Bob Franceschini and drummer Dennis Chambers) is in support of Wooten’s first album in five years, (which he also produced) Trypnotyx (Vix Records).
Best known as the bassist for Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, Wooten has done other considerable solo and collaborative work, Franceschini has worked with the likes of Paul Simon and Mike Stern, and drummer Chambers played extensively with Carlos Santana and Bootsy Collins.
Their late evening ninety-minute set began with a cacophony of soundbites against a Fripp-esque guitar loop and some James Brown-interjected taped grunts and howls before almost literally taking off with the new ‘Dc10’.
Wooten’s bass dexerity skills were immediately on display as the trio moved into a meld of jazz, funk, soul, and experimental movements. “We’ve been here when it’s cold, the coldest I’ve ever been”, Wooten said in-between, but praised the warm hearts of the locals as always welcoming him with appreciation and kindness.
Both sidemen were rock solid in laying and maintaining a foundation, that allowed Wooten to experiment and relish in, and Wooten switched briefly to a stand-up bass early on, to show his additional abilities in playing that more traditional type of bass.
Most of the first part of the set leaned more classic jazz, with ‘Liz & Opie’ sounding gypsy-like, while the funny and revealing ‘My Life’ started with the lyrics, “Gonna buy me a pickle and eat it all by myself” followed soon behind by “Gonna make me a record and fill it all up with bass, I can add a little keyboard if I want to ...but I don't!”, which drew a big collective laugh from the crowd.
Before the new ‘Cruising Altitude’, Wooten explained that when he meets a fellow musician, he likes to hand them his bass (no matter what instrument(s) they may play) and ask them to play it, as if it were their own. The new song was a result of Wooten imagining how it would sound if he gave his bass to Dave Matthews to play (who he knows, but hasn’t had the chance to do… and “I don’t have to pay him”, Wooten joked) and the song indeed does have those DMB sound earmarks.
Wooten even took bowstring in hand, to play his bass in that method, which further dazzled the already attentive audience, and with a cry of “Ha, get funky!”, the trio turned it up on ‘Funky D’ to close the main set with a bang.
For the encore, Wooten prefaced the last song with a story about his book, called The Music Lesson, written about ten years ago. Instead of traditional chapters, his installments were called measures, with a handwritten few parts of music at the beginning of each measure, and when reading the book and putting all the measures together, it becomes a complete song, called ‘The Lesson’.
“If you read that book, and put all the measures together, you’ll be able to play that song, just like us… or your money back” Wooten laughingly said, “...but we’ll be long gone”, as the crowd laughed along.
The resulting song was a lower tempo, but no less exploratory instrumental that encouraged reflection, curiosity, and wonder- “or your money back” Wooten repeated to standing applause.
To bass and jazz lovers, The Victor Wooten Trio is must-see show, but to the sound curious and music lovers eager for some adventurous explorations that move across genres, this is a can’t-miss as well. This chance to watch a seasonal threesome as masters of their craft, is an experience best described as tripnotic.
(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)
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