Ron Carter Esperanza Spalding - Downbeat

duced film shot during a large family reunion.
This is especially the case on “Heaven,” which
includes numerous singers, many of whom
are Wooten’s family. Full of enthusiasm and
good vibes, it’s obvious that its participants
enjoyed recording the album. Wooten is to be
commended for his generosity in sharing the
recording experience with his family and giving
numerous people the opportunity to record.
Although diehard Wooten fans will probably
flock to Words And Tones, it’s nothing a casual
fan or those unfamiliar with Wooten would
seek out.
—Chris Robinson
Sword And Stone: Sword And Stone; Love Is My Favorite Word;
Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior; Get It Right; A Woman’s Strength; It’s
All Right; Love To Hear U Laugh; Say Word; Be What U Are; H.O.P.E.;
Brooklyn; Still Your Baby; Merlin; Keep It Low. (62:33)
Personnel: Victor Wooten, basses, cello (5, 7), viola (5, 7), keyboards
(8, 12), vocals (14); Meshell Ndegeocello, bass (4); Steve Bailey,
trombone (1, 2, 11), bass (1, 6, 9, 14); Marcus Rojas, tuba (11);
Roy Wooten, cajon (7, 14), drums (9); Darrell Tibbs, percussion (6, 7,
9, 11); J.D. Blair, drums (3, 5, 8).
Words And Tones: Listen And Be Silent; Sword And Stone; Love Is
My Favorite Word; A Woman’s Strength; I Can’t Make You Love Me;
Brooklyn; Say Word; Be What U Are; Get It Right; When U Grow
Up; Overjoyed; Heaven; It’s All Right; Love To Hear U Laugh. (69:13)
Personnel: Victor Wooten, basses, keyboards (7, 10), vocals (9, 10,
12), cello (11, 14), viola (14); Additional personnel include: Meshell
Ndegeocello, vocals (9), bass (9); Marcus Rojas, tuba (6); Joseph
Wooten, keyboards (9, 11, 12), vocals (9, 12); Darrel Tibbs, percussion
(8, 13, 14); J.D. Blair, drums (4, 5, 7, 11, 12); Derico Watson,
drums (6, 9, 12); Adam Wooten, vocals (1, 10, 12), drums (13); Kaila
Wooten, vocals (1, 3, 9, 10, 12); Saundra Williams, vocals (6, 9, 14);
Divinity Roxx, vocals (7, 9, 12).
Ordering info: vixrecords.com
Victor Wooten
Sword And Stone
VIX Records
HH1/2
Victor Wooten
Words And Tones
VIX Records
HH
Victor Wooten’s new albums are two sides of
the same coin: Sword And Stone is mostly
instrumental, while Words And Tones (sword
and stone respelled) features most of the same
tunes sung by female vocalists. Employing
over a combined 60 musicians and never using
the same personnel and instrumentation configuration
twice, both albums, especially the
vocal one, are at times fuzzy conceptually and
over-produced. Too many musicians, too many
instruments, too many ideas.
Sword And Stone is the stronger and least
muddled of the two albums, although it can’t
help itself from meandering. The tunes are
often catchy, especially the title track and
“Brooklyn.” “Love Is My Favorite Word”
is a playful samba, but it’s light and a little
watered down. “Keep It Low,” with vocals
from Wooten, is a head-scratcher, as it inexplicably
features 13 bass players. The somewhat
unfortunate “Still Your Baby” is a family
affair, and Kaila Wooten’s vocals were processed
to almost sound like a talking doll; it
doesn’t work. Wooten flashes his bass chops on
the slow funk of “Say Word,” on which he is
joined by drummer J.D. Blair. His brief tenor
bass solo track, “H.O.P.E.,” is quite lovely.
Words And Tones, which includes a small
army of singers and most of the instrumentalists
from its counterpart, is frankly a bit messy.
Almost every song features a different lead
vocalist, helping to create inconsistency. Save
for “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (originally
recorded by Bonny Raitt) and a cover of Stevie
Wonder’s “Overjoyed,” Wooten wrote or cowrote
all the lyrics. Positive lyrics that celebrate
love, family and places are always great
in theory, but as they appear on Words And
Tones they’re sometimes too obvious, superficial
and a bit trite. Words And Tones comes
off like the musical equivalent of a well-pro-
DECEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 95