THE CLASSIC INTERVIEW
Your average bass journalist will never be a fiftieth as good as Victor Wooten or Stanley Clarke, but when you’re only interviewing one of those players, it’s possible to forget that humbling fact for a moment. Faced with both of those world-straddling bassists, however, with their casual mention of double-thumbing here and multi-finger tapping there, and it’s an inescapable element of the conversation: These two bassists are so accomplished that the rest of us mortals might as well give up now.
I’m kidding, of course. If anything, both Clarke and Wooten inspire the rest of us to work harder and get better. Both men are immensely encouraging to their fellow bassists, offering practical tips and a dose of philosophy that demonstrates how important it is to rise above the mere metal and wood of our instrument and ascend to the more significant plane of music itself.
And there’s no better time to heed their words than now, with Stanley back on the stage with the legendary fusionists Return To Forever, and Victor releasing his latest album, Palmystery. What’s more, the pair have teamed up with Marcus Miller for what looks to be the ultimate bass album, released later this year.
Stanley, Return To Forever have just completed a sold-out tour. How did the reunion come about?
About two years ago, we started talking about the possibility of us getting back together. Some promoters had made attempts to get us back together again, which kind of forced us
