Victor Wooten - Sword & Stone / Words & Tones (Vix Records 2012)

Legendary bassist and five time GRAMMY winner Victor Wooten returns to the Compass Records family via his Vix Records imprint. Vix Records bows with a simultaneous, two album release, including SWORD AND STONE, an all instrumental affair, and WORDS AND TONES, featuring female vocalists in collaboration with Wooten, with both albums showcasing Wooten's multi-faceted approach to music, performance and songwriting. The albums were produced, engineered and mixed by Wooten and feature him on a variety of fretless, electric and acoustic bass guitars, cello, keyboards, percussion and strings, as well as vocals, with plenty of jaw-dropping bass solos to satisfy those who thrive on Wooten's amazing technical skills.

The dual release concept is a window into Wooten's unique perspective on music and the inter connectivity between all things and all of us. The word play in the titles of the two albums hints at this underlying message (move the s from the end of both WORDS AND TONES and place it in front of each to get SWORD AND STONE.) Wooten elaborates on that theme by including both vocal and instrumental renditions of many of the same songs on the albums, giving the listener at least two ways to experience the compositions. Wooten comments, 'There's something for everyone - music and messages for every age. I wrote about what was on my mind and in my heart. If the listener wants to learn, be entertained, or just casually listen, it's all available on these two CDs. Just figuring out the significance behind the two titles may be enough to make one smile.'

Featured vocalists on WORDS AND TONES include Saundra Williams (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings) and Divinty Roxx (Beyonce) as well as a collaboration with Me'shell Ndegeocello and a beautiful duet featuring Joey Kibble (Take 6) and Cheryl Morse. SWORD AND STONE is a predictably virtuosic set, with instrumental renditions of many of the songs from WORDS AND TONES enhanced by different arrangements, solos, instrumentation and musicians (Ndegeocello, Kibble, Divinity, The Wooten Bros.).
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