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Victor Wooten: Thunder

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Heads Up International
Released: 2008.08.12
Time:
 62:33
Category: Jazz Fusion
Producer(s): Stanley Clarke
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.victorwooten.com
Appears with: Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Stanley Clarke
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Maestros de Las Frecuencias Bajas (Clarke) - 2:52
[2] Thunder (Marcus Miller) - 6:37
[3] Hillbillies on a Quiet Afternoon (Wooten, Clarke) - 6:13
[4] Mongoose Walk (Wooten, Miller, Clarke) - 5:59
[5] Los Tres Hermanos (Miller) - 5:25
[6] Lopsy Lu - Silly Putty (Medley) (Clarke) - 6:14
[7] Milano (Miller) - 4:22
[8] Classical Thump (Jam) (Wooten) - 4:50
[9] Tutu (Miller) - 5:05
[10] Lil' Victa (Clarke) - 4:13
[11] Pendulum (Clarke, Miller, Wooten, Clinton) - 4:18
[12] Lemme Try Your Bass [Interlude] (Clarke, Miller) - 0:59
[13] Grits (Miller) - 5:27

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Stanley Clarke - Bass Guitar on [1-6,10-13], Double Bass on [7,9], Producer
Marcus Miller - Bass Guitar, Fretless Bass Guitar on [7], Bass Clarinet on [1,9], Alto Saxophone on [1], Tenor Saxophone on [1], Synthesizers on [2-7,9,11,13], Minimoog on [4], Drum Programming on [2,6,9]
Victor Wooten - Bass Guitar on [1-11,13]

Steve Baxter - Trombone on [1,6]
Poogie Bell - Drums on [5,6]
J.D. Blair - Drums on [9]
Ronald Bruner, Jr. - Drums on [1,10,13]
Butterscotch - Vocals on [2,9], Beatboxing on [2,11]
Chick Corea - Piano on [4]
George Duke - Clavinet on [3], Minimoog on [6]
Ariel Mann - Synthesizers on [1]
Kevin Ricard - Percussion on [4,5,7]
Ruslan Sirota - Synthesizers on [1]
Patches Stewart - Trumpet on [1,6]
Karlton Taylor - Keyboards on [9]
Derico Watson - Drums on [3]

Gerry "The Gov" Brown - Engineer, Mixing
Erik Zobler - Engineer
Peter A. Barker - Engineer
Antonio Resendiz - Assistant Engineer
Doug Tyo - Assistant Engineer
Michele Aristy - Assistant
Goh Hotoda - Mixing
David Isaac - Mixing
David Rideau - Mixing
Bob Ludwig - Mastering
Danette Albetta - Production Supervisor
Bibi Green - Production Supervisor

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Get the subwoofers primed for this one. Three of jazz fusion's finest and most respected bassists - Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, and Victor Wooten - join forces for an hourlong frolic in the studio that's a fun, frisky, funky romp for the players and a potent showcase for an instrument often relegated to support status. Not here. On paper, it would seem unwieldy for three bass players, especially with the proficiency of this trio, to navigate their parts in the same song without the sound getting hopelessly cluttered. But it takes less than a minute into the opening track, which unexpectedly kicks off with full orchestration, for the concept to prove viable. One bass works the traditional low riff while the other two solo in harmony and trade licks with such ease and finesse that you wonder why someone didn't think of this collaboration earlier. Actually, someone did. Wooten came up with the idea but it took until the group worked together at the October 2006 Bass Player Live! event in N.Y.C. (where Clarke won the Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award) for it to be discussed as a reality with the other two. Clarke was no stranger to playing with his fellow bottom dwellers, as he proved on his Night School DVD where he joined with about ten other bassists for an extended version of "School Days." Still, it's amazing how well these guys navigate their strummed, plucked, and thumped parts around each other without clashing. Horns, drums, loops, and keyboards (from guests Chick Corea and George Duke as well as Miller) flesh out the upper registers while Miller's clean, unfussy production also keeps things in order. Acoustic bowed bass and strings on "Milano" shift the sound away from the more rhythmic approach naturally favored on the majority of the tracks. The three amigos take on a Spanish spaghetti Western feel for "Los Tres Hermanos," a refreshing changeup that features some of the disc's most nimble playing and its prettiest melody. Some tunes will be familiar to jazz fans. "Tutu" was written by Miller for Miles Davis and Clarke's "Quiet Afternoon" gets referenced, as does his "Silly Putty," but these versions are quite different than the originals. All three musicians weave their lines together on the lovely ballad "Lil' Victa," with Clarke's high end sounding enough like a guitar to hold down the strong melodic line. The closing "Grits" is a hot slab of funky jazz that gives each a chance to solo over a sparse beat. Although their styles are relatively distinct, it would have been helpful if the liner notes described who was playing which part, especially for newcomers. Otherwise, this will thrill fusion fans - and for bassists it's nothing less than a master class on the instrument from a handful of its most accomplished, eclectic, and veteran practitioners.

Hal Horowitz - All Music Guide



Three bass heroes: Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten. Clarke is the veteran who helped define jazz-rock. Miller is the master producer who revitalised Miles Davis in the 1980s. Wooten is the driving force behind the Flecktones' Grammy-winning roots-jazz. The packaging of Thunder shows its stars as road warriors, brandishing bass guitars in front of a deserted highway. This might seem an unfortunate metaphor for the contents: strutting, posing and headed for the vanishing point. Fortunately, there's enough ingenuity and fun to keep your interest. Spacious grooves (Mongoose Walk, Lopsy Lu/Silly Putty) leave just enough room to hear what's happening, and if you've ever wanted to hear three basses in harmony, Lil' Victa has all the ponderous grace of dancing hippos. Thunder is all about showing off, but maybe SMV have earned the right.

John L Walters - 8 August 2008
© 2015 Guardian News and Media



Bring together three titans of the electric bass, and you're in for something downright special. So it is with Thunder by S.M.V. (Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten).

Collectively, the trio has been all over the map, collaborating with a wide array of artists, including Maynard Ferguson, George Duke, Spyro Gyra, David Sanborn, Bob James, Kenny Garrett and the Jaco Pastorius Big Band. The three bassists played together for the first time in October 2006 at the "Bass Player Live!" concert in New York City, an event which included the presentation of Bass Player magazine's "Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award" to Clarke.

While the three mostly play electric bass, Clarke uses the acoustic on a few tracks, and Miller contributes other instruments, including bass clarinet, alto and tenor saxophones, synths and beat programming. The supporting cast includes appearances by Michael "Patches" Stewart on trumpet, George Duke on Mini-Moog, Chick Corea on piano, and 2007's America's Got Talent runner-up and vocal beatbox specialist Butterscotch.

The title song is a cool groove that, like several of the songs, features all three bassists. One carries the melody while the others carry the background; Butterscotch adds beatbox and voice trumpet sounds.

"Hillbillies on a Quiet Afternoon" has some familiar sounds, as part of the music is based on the melody from Clarke's "Quiet Afternoon." Duke contributes on Clavinet.

"Lopsy Lu - Silly Putty" is a lesson in funk. Again, Duke adds a Mini-Moog solo, but it's the basses that give this tune its strength. At times, the horns and Miller's synths borrow from the bass line of Average White Band's "Schoolboy Crush.";

Thunder is as much a clinic on the electric bass as it is a listening experience. Clarke, Miller and Wooten are masters of the instrument, and it shows. Add to that some excellent songwriting and an adept supporting cast, and you've got a superb all-around effort.

Woodrow Wilkins - September 16, 2008
© 2015 All About Jazz
 

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