Victor Wooten, the greatest bassist of all time? Perhaps. Recently I was lured to Jannus Landing with the promise of seeing some amazing music. For weeks my roommate Adrian had been talking about going to see Victor Wooten with the same excitement a tween girl has on her way to see Hannah Montana live.

  I had no idea what I was getting myself into, as I had never heard any of his music. We got to the venue and I began to smell the patchouli wafting down the streets of St. Pete and leading me to Jannus, I knew these were my kind of people. As we rounded the corner we ran into Mr. Wooten himself leaving a local Thai food restaurant. He was a very humble man with a powerful presence, even made time to take a photo with us girls.

  Once we filed into the venue, and I convinced security that my Canon 20D was merely a "point and shoot", I waited eagerly. The lights dimmed. Victor and his gang took the stage and got right into jamming. I was in a trance for the first five minutes. Each musician played a role as the perfect piece to a sensational puzzle. I took time listening to each player, each working magic with their instruments. 

  The man on drums, Derico Watson, kept time in perfect rhythm and even sped things up to a whole new level. I was shocked to find out that he was working with only one kick-drum pedal. Moroccan native, Amir Ali, played beautifully on the violin and even incorporated some traditional Moroccan chanting to create a mystical ambiance. Regie Wooten, aka the teacher, is the big brother in the Wooten family and played the guitar with funk and finesse.

Joseph Wooten looked like a mad-scientist behind his monstrous stack of keyboards. I was told that a man known only as "future-man" usually takes the role of keyboardist, but Joseph seemed to captivate the audience just the same. Saundra Williams, aka the voice, packed a punch with every note she belted out. Her voice was very powerful and took command despite the surrounding instruments. Victor seemed to be the keystone to the group, bringing everything together. His bass solo was enough to bring life to a statue.

View & Leave Comments

View & Leave Comments

Sunday Skipper's Smokehouse entertained an array of people for the FIRE IN THE YOUTH concert. Generations gathered as kids took to the dance floor of dirt. The parents, and in some cases grandparents, weren't far behind these tiny dancers as the Latin sounds boomed from the stage striking up an urgency in everyone to dance. Salvador Santana, son of Carlos Santana, and his band opened the night up with some reggaeton, rap, and hip hop all with a Latin flare. They even did a cover of Evil Ways.

When I heard that WMNF would be putting together this show I knew I would have to take my dad, as he is a huge Carlos Santana fan. I didn't realize that it would be the opening act, B-Side Players, that would win us over. The empowering presence that B-Side brought to the stage was enough to fire up everyone there that night to join as a revolutionary force. Singing songs about controversial political problems in the world today, and projecting images of a Utopian world.

Lead singer Solrak had a very distinct voice, reminiscent of a young Bob Marley. The B-Side Players are fully equipped with horns, drums, keyboard, guitars, and the occasional accordion. It was great to see so many people enjoying themselves, and lost in the music. The day had been gloomy, and the night had a few moments of rain. Even though the ground was muddy and the air was humid, the people were overjoyed by the music. The band closed with their song Alegria, meaning happiness in Spanish, and Solrak had the audience shouting the, "Alegria!" at the top of their lungs throughout the song.

Photos courtesy of Burt Leppla, my pops. Thanks dad!

For more upcoming amazing shows at Skippers check this out

B-Side Players

Salvador Santana Band

View & Leave Comments