12 April,2010 10:14 AM IST | | Sheena Thomas
Victor Wooten looks as though he was born with a guitar in his hand. Well he almost was, having started his bass guitar classes at the age of two under the tutelage of his elder brother and performing since the age of three. Arguably the best bass guitarist around, the five-time Grammy award winner who's recently concluded his Indian tour with concerts in Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and of course Mumbai, speaks to CS about his impressions of India:
PIC/ SANTOSH NAGWEKAR
No strings attached
I was really excited about this tour because I'd been wanting to come to India since a very long time. And since India is not too big on the guitar front, I wanted to live up to people's expectations and say a big thank you to them through my music for making me feel so at home.
I wouldn't say that I was jittery before the performances, but I certainly was excited. I've been performing for a while now so I don't usually suffer from panic attacks before going up on stage. It's a fantastic feeling to know that Indians have heard of me and my music, even though this is my first time in the country. I was shocked by the response that I received from the audiences. Just goes to show how powerful the Internet is and how small our world's becoming.
Striking a chord
I have a very strong connection with India and its musicians. It was John McLaughlin, the famous jazz fusion guitarist, who got me hooked on to Indian music. Even though I may not know the names of the some of the popular artists here, back home I have friends who play the tabla and it is great jamming with them. I'm heavily into Carnatic music, but nothing beats Indian percussion and rhythms.
Jamming
I've thoroughly enjoyed performing with Prasanna (guitarist) on this Indian tour. A good chunk of our concerts were impromptu since we hardly got any time to practise. I flew down to India just one day before the concerts were to start. Though we had a structure in mind, there was a lot of room for improvisation on the stage. But that's the power of music. You have the freedom create something new every time you go up on stage.
