Vuyani With Victor Wooten At Vic's Bass/Nature Camp

Before I get into some of the activities of the week, I have to say that the caterers were off the hook!!!  Catering was by Center Stage Catering of Athens, Georgia.  These great guys provided the best catering I've had, and they did so at every meal.  As it turned out, one of them is a great bass player as well!   To top it all off, they played some of the hippest music on their stereo in the kitchen.  It made the dishwhashing crews really enjoy dishwashing duty.

The bass players that were part of the staff this year included Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Chuck Rainey, Adam Nitti and Anthony Wellington.  We had some visiting special guests which included Billy Sheehan, Alphonso Johnson and Quentin Berry of the band Ugli Stick.  There were other musicians that came over from the Nashville area as well.  These musicians included bassist Roy Vogt, saxaphonist Rudy Wooten, Roy "Futureman" Wooten, Regi "Teacha" Wooten, drummer Kelly "Can we record" (I forgot his last name) from Virginia, and a great keyboard player whose name I didn't get.

Vic was his usual generous self with knowledge, ideas, and experience.  His lessons were very eye opening and original.  Billy Sheehan was simply great!  He shared stories of how he got started as a musician, to stories of some of the happenings on the road.  Billy displayed his incredible techniques, how he developed them, and how he approaches new techniques.  Alphonso Johnson arrived from Los Angeles to perform for us.  Unfortunately his fretless Modulus bass was damaged by the airline.  Alphonso performed with his fretted Modulus bass.  He too shared stories about his time with various bands, including Joe Zawinul and Weather Report.  Then there was Quentin Berry...  Quentin has to be seen to be fully appreciated.  He plays his bass cradled in his right arm, sort of like a lazy violinist.  Even though he plays in this unique way, he is just as amazing on the rare occations when he plays in the more orthodox way.  Quentin Berry is ridiculously funky!  He's absolutely a must see bass player.

I also had the priviledge of bunking in the same cabin as Salt Lake City, Utah first call bassist Denson Angulo.  Each night, Denson and I would host as many as ten to twelve campers who wanted to work out some technique or music theory issues out.  These late night sessions often evolved into memorable jam sessions.  Also included were two of my new friends from Newport News, Virginia, bassist Jacques Jones and guitarist Larry Jarvis.  These two great musicians were kind enough to bring Victor Wooten's mother to the camp from her home in North Carolina.Aside from being phenomenal musicians, Jacques Jones and Larry Jarvis have the distinction of having grown up with the Wooten brothers in Virginia.  They also performed for and with the campers. 

Other countries were represented by bass players from Equador, Canada, Turkey, and Mexico.  On the last night of the week, there was a giant jam session where every camper got to play with the house band made up of Nashville area musicians.  My favorite acts were P-Nut Johnson of Minneapolis jamming on some funk with Jacques Jones.  They played Parlament's "We Want The Funk".  They totally brought the house down.  They had people standing on chairs and tables just to see them.  Another memorable act was "Turkish Funk".  This was a group of three funky Turkish bass players who also turned the house out.  This jam session was the culmination of everything the bass players had learned all week long.

I spent that last night sleeping at Vix Mix (Victor Wooten's recording studio).  This was because Victor and Holly were hosting about twenty people in their house that night.  Since I had a very early flight to Chicago, it was easier for me to spend the night with them and then be dropped off at the airport by Jacques and Larry.

I had a great and memorable time again at Victor Wooten's Bass/Nature camp.  I was exhausted when I got home, but it was worth it.  I wish to thank Victor and Holly Wooten for this wonderful opportunity.  Again, I learned a great deal from the experience.

If you would like to see the pictures I shot while at the Bass/Nature Camp, please click on the word pictures.