Victor Wooten

Victor Wooten was born September 11, 1964 on an Air Force base outside Boise, Idaho, the youngest of five brothers in a military family that moved frequently during his childhood. His musical education began remarkably early: Victor Lemonte Wooten got to music early, growing up in a military family in which his older brothers all played and sang, and by the time he was 3, Victor was being taught bass by his oldest brother Regi, and at age 5 he was performing professionally with the Wooten Brothers Band. The family eventually settled and, during their years stationed in Hawaii, the brothers began performing as a five-piece band, with Regi on guitar, Roy on drums, Rudy on sax, Joseph on keys, and Victor on bass, playing first in their front yard before honing their skills further. By his early childhood Victor was touring with his brothers opening shows for legendary soul artist Curtis Mayfield, and before graduating high school he and his brothers had shared the stage with artists such as Stephanie Mills, War, Ramsey Lewis, Frankie Beverly and Maze, and The Temptations. Wooten's breakthrough onto the national and international stage came in 1988, when a chance connection reshaped his career. In 1987, Victor traveled with a friend to Nashville, where he connected with banjoist Bela Fleck for the first time; the two kept in touch and continued sharing musical ideas, and in 1988, after Wooten had settled in Nashville, he, Fleck, Victor's brother Roy "Future Man" Wooten, and harmonica and piano player Howard Levy formed the eclectic ensemble Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. The group blended jazz improvisation with progressive bluegrass, rock, classical, funk, and world music traditions , creating a genre-defying sound that quickly earned critical acclaim. Wooten's playing became central to the band's identity, and he soon branched into a parallel solo career, releasing his critically-acclaimed solo debut, A Show of Hands, in 1996 , followed by What Did He Say? in 1997, the Grammy-nominated Yin-Yang in 1999, and the double CD Live In America in 2001. Over the following decades Wooten's career expanded well beyond the Flecktones. He became a five-time Grammy winner and won Bass Player Magazine's Bass Player of the Year three times, the only person to win it more than once, while Rolling Stone ranked him number 10 in the Top 10 Bassists of All Time. His reputation as a sideman and collaborator grew alongside his solo work, leading to recordings and performances with artists like Branford Marsalis, Mike Stern, Bruce Hornsby, Chick Corea, Dave Matthews, Prince, Gov't Mule, and Susan Tedeschi. A particular highlight of this era came in 2008, when he became part of the super group SMV, which brought three outstanding jazz artists together: Wooten, Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller. The Flecktones themselves saw some lineup shifts over the years, with Howard Levy departing in 1992 before the group continued as a trio for several years until recruiting Jeff Coffin in 1997 on saxophones; Coffin then left in 2010, and Levy rejoined in 2011 , allowing the original quartet to reunite for celebratory tours in later years.