The Victor Wooten Trio featuring Dennis Chambers and Bob Franceschini will be in Atlanta this Wednesday, May 17 at Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points. All of the travel of late has been due to their current tour, Vixcamps, and clinics. Speaking of which, there will be a bass clinic at Ken Stanton Music in Marietta, GA from 2-6pm. You can find tickets for their performance at Variety Playhouse HERE
We last spoke with Victor in 2013 in Issue 5 of The Peach Review®. In our exclusive interview, he told our own KJ about what motivated his album (at that time) and his love for Vixcamps, which will be turning 18 this year!
Victor Wooten’s Center for Music and Nature (vixcamps.com) is a not-for- profit organization through which Wooten holds music, nature, and other educational programs throughout the year. Wooten Woods (wootenwoods.com), a retreat center near Nashville, TN, is the home for all of Victor’s camps. Wooten Woods contains nearly 150 lush picturesque acres and is situated alongside the scenic Duck River, one of the world’s most bio-diverse rivers.
A few years later, in order to be in complete control of his own music, Wooten formed a record label called VIX Records. In addition to all of this, he continues to record and perform with artists such as Béla Fleck, Chick Corea, The Dave Matthews Band, SMV (Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten), and his brothers, as well as with his own band – The Victor Wooten Band.
Dennis Chambers began drumming at age four and was gigging in Baltimore-area nightclubs by the age of six. He was recruited in 1981 by the Sugar Hill Label to be their “house drummer.” Dennis plays on many Sugar Hill releases including, “Rapper’s Delight.” In 1978 (at 18 years old) he joined Parliament/Funkadelic, and stayed with them until 1985. In 1986 he joined the John Scofield band. Since then he has played with most of the major figures in jazz fusion music.
Saxophonist, songwriter, and arranger Bob Franceschini has appeared on more than 200 albums for many artists including Mike Stern, Paul Simon, Willie Colon, Celine Dion, Bebe Winans, Tito Puente, Tower of Power, Victor Wooten, and Tom Browne. In addition to composing and arranging, Bob has performed as a touring musician with Mike Stern, The Yellow Jackets, Chaka Khan, Victor Wooten, George Benson, Paul Simon, Eddie Palmieri, Tom Browne, Willie Colón, and many others.