Some people don’t even know what a bass sounds like. Drowned out by other instruments, the bass guitar may be hard to hear but it’s usually the backbone of music. Victor Wooten, along with other greats like Flea and Les Claypol, has taken the bass and moved it to the forefront.
Best known as a Flecktone in a band fronted by Béla Fleck, where he’s joined by his brother Future Man and Jeff Coffin, Wooten has frequently appeared as a guest on stage with the Dave Matthews Band and performed with big names in jazz music.
Wooten started playing bass professionally at the age of 5 in a band with his four brothers — The Wooten Brothers Band. The band THEN shows for War and Curtis Mayfield. Years later, few bassists come close to replicating Wooten’s blazing speed and pinpoint accuracy.
Wooten and his basses — he has a wide collection of fretted, fretless and four-, five-, six- and eight-stringed guitars, plus a couple of upright acoustics — will make their way to Baltimore’s Funk Box March 22 and 23. The shows start at 7 p.m. and tickets are $20 — get there early before Wooten blows the roof off.
