*****Soul Circus by Victor Wooten – Wooten’s Laid Back Hip Hop Grooves Are Genius

I am not a huge fan of R&B, and though this album is heavy on that vibe, in this case I totally love it.  If you like good music, bass, sexy, rich female vocals, hip hop without rap, and a bit of R&B, buy this album!  This album is primarily made of bass and drums, but that is the way of highlighting the bass.  Bass players and drummers, the rhythm section, have to be tight.  Likewise, though I am mostly out of touch with pop rap, I feel that whether or not that is your thing, this is a tremendous album.  There is not a weak track.

Wooten should definitely be included in the small group of musicians from the baby boomer generation that has consistently proved himself more than a pro at his instrument, but a virtuoso.  Honestly, it is unfortunate that music has quite a canopy, such that someone even as great as Victor Wooten may not have even made it in music in today’s world, which basically means that to my knowledge, it doesn’t matter if you are awesome at an instrument, and that no matter how hard you try or how skilled you are, there may not be a job available to you.  In today’s world it is all about who you know.  What I am getting at is that the outlook for folks that are musicians at all levels is bleak, but doesn’t mean that it is time to give up on music.

The main reason for this is the permanency of albums.  It is easy to record a new album, but not easy to differentiate an album from what has come before because now unlike any other time in history, if you record a disc, the quality of it will be the same 100yrs from now and so on.  This gives early released albums in certain genres an advantage.  There has also been a movement toward having fewer musicians play live music.  In the past, bands never had a problem getting a job, such as playing a wedding, but these days almost everyone wants a DJ instead of a band to play at some social event such as a wedding.

One song I particularly like on this album is about the history of awesome musicians that have played bass, and how bass used to be an instrument that was sort of hidden in the background.  Wooten plays something from each of their styles, and even talks about the demonstration of that a bass player can front a band.  It isn’t the only album ever like this, but I will say that this is one of the better instances of bass heavy music that really flows.  Being a music lover, I am familiar with his favorite/inspirational bass players.  For example, it is just great when Wooten plays a line like the famous musician, Stanley Clarke, saying, “Stanley Clarke, I tip my hat to you.”