Show Review

I have only had the pleasure of seeing Victor Wooten as a member of his recognized band who are taking the year off from touring - Bela Fleck &the Flecktones. That was until a few days ago when Victor Wooten, with his own group, played Portland’s Aladdin Theater. Wooten, seen by many as the best bassist in the world, should need no introduction, so I’ll spare you what you already know and get on to the show.

The concert opened unlike any show I have ever seen: with a video presentation, which was essentially a mockumentary featuring interviews of Wooten’s family, friends and fans stirring up mysticism about the man and his supposed eight arms and hands (as seen on the new album cover). We were told if we watched the upcoming show closely and intently, that we too might actually witness the “human octopus.” The video soon gave way to spinning lights as the screen was pulled up and the band made their way onto the stage to begin a night of nonstop soul.

Victor Wooten’s current touring band, featuring two of his four musical brothers, known collectively as the “Soul Circus” (touring behind the recently released Soul Circus album) may prove to be the link between George Clinton’s Mothership Connection and the funk of the future.

The band picked almost exclusively from Soul Circus, which features Wooten’s simple and positive lyrics. A couple of exceptions being scorching, funky covers of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire,” showcasing Regi Wooten shredding on electric guitar, as well as a few songs sung and written by the two female performers in the group, Saundra Williams and MC Divinity.

Of course, there were bass solos too, and more bass solos, and then a few more bass solos to follow. At one point there were four people playing various bass guitars as well as Joseph Wooten on synth bass as they all traded off measures of improvisational bass conversation. If you are a fan of the bass, the Soul Circus is a show you shouldn’t miss.

In the end, Wooten predictably provided the pinnacle of the show as he managed to disappear late in the set as strobe lights flashed and the band raged on, only to re-appear a few moments later standing on a platform behind the drums, looking down on the crowd and his band, wearing a contraption that gave the un-convincing though none-the-less entertaining illusion of extra body limbs. Then Wooten went on to defy all laws of speed and motion as he delivered one of his trademark solos. Even if he really did have the added assistance of eight hands, I’d still be impressed.