In a word, WOW!

the only shot I got with all five musicians

This evening’s extraordinary concert consisted of four bass geniuses and a drummer. Whoever thinks that it would have been a boring show would be quite wrong.

The four bassists were Victor Wooten, who made his name with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones; Steve Bailey, the chair of the bass department at the Berklee College of Music; John Patitucci, who made his name with Chick Corea’s Electric Band; and Victor Bailey, who replaced Jaco Pastorius in Weather Report.

The show was at the Berklee Performance Center, one of the finest venues in Boston.  Anything less than that would not suit one of the finest music universities in the world.

The bassists have known each other for many years, but this was the first time they’d performed together on this stage – and all of them have Berklee connections as either professors or visiting artists. Hopefully Derico Watson will teach there in the near future.

Victor Wooten

Steve Bailey

John Patitucci

Victor Bailey

Derico Watson

The performance was jazz, as that’s where they have roots. They played many standards from the ensembles some of them had performed with -“Birdland” by Weather Report and “School Daze” by Stanley Clarke, to name a few. Throughout the 90-minute set, they traded solos and leads seamlessly.

When one had a solo, the others watched as if in awe of the quality of the playing, shaking their heads in apparent amazement, smiling and laughing as well. Sometimes I felt like they couldn’t believe their good fortune at being on stage with such incredible artistry.

Steve Bailey recording Victor Bailey on his iPhone

I couldn’t believe my good fortune at being a witness to such artistry. One thing struck me throughout the show – they were all having fun on stage.

Just as it should be.

so glad I got this shot of Victor W. playing Steve’s bass

a rare shot of Victor W. playing an upright bass