Many people agree that Victor Wooten is one of the greatest bass guitarists ever – that title seems to undervalue both the instrument and its contribution to music in general and in his hands particularly – nevertheless it’s his preferred term.

In this book Victor sets out to describe a transformation in his musical approach and understanding that has made him the creative artist  he is today.  He offers his discoveries with disarming modesty and self-deprecating humour recounted in a readable and economic style that makes for genuine entertainment.  Nevertheless without it becoming pretentious the message  is substantial and all-embracing as the narrator (Victor) encounters the synergies between Music (capital ‘M’) and Life (capital ‘L’).

There is a quasi-mystical aspect to the book that some may find hard to accept.  The teacher and his associates appear to live a mysterious and non-material life that nonetheless renders them exactly at the right place and time to interact with Victor in extraordinary ways.  Those of us who remember Carlos Castaneda’s account of his experiences with Don Juan, the Yaqui Shaman in the Mexican desert, will appreciate Tony Levin’s reference on the book cover.

However that was in the 1960′s, and Wooten’s narrative is far more inclusive and benign, and free of dependence on mind-altering substances.  I don’t need to resolve whether his narrative is true or a device – either way it’s a leap of imagination.  What I take from the book is what it says about music (and Music), musicianship and creativity.  The routines and rules we lay down for ourselves and adopt from others are capable of becoming the bars of a musical cage.  The criticism we give ourselves and the goals we set can be the same.

Victor Wooten started playing at two years old by his own account, and as he grew up he became more distant from his instinctual musicality.  At the start of the book he describes himself as a struggling bassist, not getting enough work, worried about paying his rent, and anxious about his standing in the musical marketplace.  I suspect many of us can relate to this.

Victor’s journey as retold here is one of re-connecting himself with the innate knowledge of Music that engaged him and drew him on as a child – again, something that many of us can share.  What I find truly liberating and illuminating is his realisation that he has done enough to relegate his concerns about musical structure and technique in favour of developing his contact with Music and allowing that to guide his development and performance.

By inference the same may be true for us all.  I am certainly looking forward to finding out.

Thanks again to Angela and Mariarita for wielding the Nikon so effectively.

Go to our Photo Gallery to see more.

Photo by Neil Hunter

I’ve just spent two days listening back to everything we recorded in August at Nick Weldon’s Shoe Factory in Rushden, Northants.  Amazingly we put down 20 tunes while we were there, including many of our current repertoire and some we haven’t played much in a while.  The results are really gratifying – several ‘first takes’ and many more that need just a little tweak to be ready for release.

Several factors may have helped to make this a really enjoyable as well as productive recording experience.  Undoubtedly the atmosphere at the Shoe Factory was one – not only is it spacious and comfortable, it’s also the home and working base of very creative musicians, so it’s conducive to music-making.  Nick and Andra made us very welcome too.

Another thing is we didn’t spend a lot of time on each tune, one by one, as frequently happens.  Instead we played a few tunes in a short ‘set’ and then played them all again.  This way second takes were really fresh – and third takes were often unnecessary.

Now I’m heading over to One Nation Studio in Leamington to get together with John Wilson for the mixing stage.  John engineered the session for us in Rushden and he knows how we play live, so I’m confident he will help us get a really good ‘live’ sound for this recording.  I’ve worked with him several times now and really value his musical approach to the technical aspects of recording.

If you’d like to see more images from the session, here’s a slide show of Neil’s pictures  for you to enjoy.

Meanwhile keep an ear / eye open for our new CD.  Hopefully it won’t be long in coming!

Neil Hunter took some great ones too – you can see his by following this link to Photobucket.

Recording at the Shoe Factory was very different to my previous experiences of studio recording.  The space is large, light and airy – I hope to show some pictures shortly.  It’s not simply a recording studio, more a workplace for music  where recording is possible.  It has a very creative and comfortable atmosphere,  due to the physical surroundings, the paintings and books and of course recordings everywhere.  Most of all it has a real feeling of being a home for musicians – which is what it is.

So – thanks again to Nick and Andra for making us feel so welcome in your home of music.  It would be hard to imagine a more conducive environment in which to spend a week immersed in playing and recording.  I hope the mixing and polishing of the tracks ensures that feeling is retained in the final product.

After that we are taking up residence at The Shoe Factory, Nick Weldon’s atmospheric studio in Rushden Northants., for a week’s recording.  We’ll be trying some new approaches on a range of material, much of which we have been gigging for the last year or so.  We are looking to build on the experience of our first album, Introducing Interplay, again with the able assistance of John Wilson of Leamington’s One Nation Studio.

At the end of that week we are playing for one of my jazz workshop students who is getting married in Warwick.  The bridal request list comprises many beautiful standards so we’ll be interleaving these between our normal material for parties.

All of which means I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the tunes and arrangements and how to ensure the band can give its best in all these different contexts.  It’s really interesting for me – I hope the results will show that I have got it right!

Erika and her shadows

I recently had the pleasure of hearing my old friend the bassist Erika Lyons at Stratford Jazz with the Pete Canter Quartet (Pete Canter saxes, Jim Blomfield keyboard, Gary Evans drums).

Erika and I go back a long way – in fact many years ago she lent me her spare double bass for many months and so got me started on the whole Contrabass journey.   Our paths don’t cross too often these days so this was a chance not to be missed!

The lighting at The Chapel, home of Stratford Jazz, is very atmospheric, so I couldn’t resist taking some phone shots.  There are a few more on our Gallery page too.  Why not take a look?

I’d not heard the band before but needless to say it was  excellent, Pete Canter leading with strong and British-sounding saxophony over classic tunes.  Jim and Gary did the business, and Erika played in her distinct and personal manner, inventive,  sparing and expressive all at the same time.  A great evening all round.

Ball starts from the view already expressed by Danny Levitin in ‘This Is Your Brain On Music’ (see my post Brilliant Read for Music Lovers ) that everyone is musical and has huge capacity to enjoy, engage with, respond to and understand music, even though for very many people this is simply not recognised at least in Western culture.  Despite the notable prominence given in the West to producers of music it is the widespread enjoyment of it that defines its place in society.

Ball gives a detailed account of the mechanics of music at the cognitive level, considering how pitch, melody, harmony, rhythm and timbre all trigger neurological and then cognitive responses.  This is supported by what seems like a very comprehensive knowledge of relevant research and commentary, from Aristotle to the current science, which happily is presented in sufficient detail without breaking the flow.

He acknowledges the importance of social context in influencing how music is heard as well as made, and like Levitin draws examples from all parts of the globe and many genres, although concentrating on Western classical music.  Clearly music is not only a universal human activity, it engages us mentally perhaps more than any other activity.  Without knowing how or why this has come to pass it is clear that we cannot do without music and to attempt to do so would be to oppose something innate in human nature.

This is a fascinating and instructive read and the author is to be congratulated for making the science more accessible to lay readers like me.  Where I felt less convinced was towards the very end of the book where Ball attempts to consider the more evasive aspects such as music’s emotional impact, whether music is a language as such, and its ‘meaning’ if it has any.  For me as a musician these are the most important aspects but they receive the least discussion.  Ball ends by re-affirming the wonder of music, and I don’t doubt his personal love for it, but I sense that the scientist in him is less than comfortable in considering these ineffable qualities of music.

Perhaps this is because in a sense they continue to  deny or at least transcend all our efforts to define them.  And therefore, perhaps, that is how it should remain.