CWP’s style is Louisiana bass-driven funk with hints of the Caribbean, West Africa and brasil. He has forged many musical relationships in his 20+ years of performing-uniting the Charlie Wooton Project. With Wooton playing bass, Ricky Fargo, formally with Col. Bruce Hampton and Derek Trucks on drums and Marcus Henderson from King Johnson on Sax and keys. The fluid movement from riveting, classic solo bass pieces to soul-shaking improvisations, the group takes the audience on a musical roller-...
CWP’s style is Louisiana bass-driven funk with hints of the Caribbean, West Africa and brasil. He has forged many musical relationships in his 20+ years of performing-uniting the Charlie Wooton Project. With Wooton playing bass, Ricky Fargo, formally with Col. Bruce Hampton and Derek Trucks on drums and Marcus Henderson from King Johnson on Sax and keys. The fluid movement from riveting, classic solo bass pieces to soul-shaking improvisations, the group takes the audience on a musical roller-coaster ride.......................................... Charlie Wooton’s personal journey is rooted in his Louisiana musical family upbringing and nurtured by his constant study of ethnic music (“I love music that is pure,” he says) and seemingly insatiable love of live performance. It is difficult to pinpoint where he began to follow the road less traveled, yet when a 17 year-old Wooton’s band opened for The Meters at Grant Street Dance Hall in Lafayette, Louisiana he learned something about performance that wasn’t taught in his lessons...................................................................................... “There was one point in the show when George Porter Junior hit a low E and he just stood there and the whole place went NUTS.” ........................................... Wooton had been changed, and his active musical mind would be molded even further a couple of years later, when he was moved by a particularly dynamic performance from African percussionist and band leader Mohamed Bangoura at the Festival International deLouisiane, also in Lafayette. Bangoura ended up staying in Lafayette and becoming a bit of a mentor to the young Wooton. The two spoke radically different types of French, yet Wooton learned that strong musical connections can transcend language. Bangoura would sing his band mates parts to them or, “He would start a rhythm and we would put tones to it and he would add cadences and we would have a song!” ................................. Bangoura taught Wooton not only about the beauty of improvisation, but also about methods that can be utilized to keep the improvisation fresh and lively. Sure, Wooton was a busy musician even in high school, playing bass and trumpet throughout his four years. He played in several touring bands including the Chubby Carrier and Bayou Swamp Band and one All State Jazz Band (with Brian Blade drumming). Wooton knew music very well for someone his age, but Bangoura opened up a new world for him. “In rehearsals, he would sometimes give us a groove, and then have us play it for an hour or so without letting us get louder or softer, just keeping the groove tight.” Then in the live performances Bangoura would hit the stage adorned with festive attire and full of energetic fire. “All of a sudden we would let loose with what we had been holding back in the rehearsals.”..................................................................... Wooton ended up finding his way to Los Angeles armed with a slew of musical experiences, and found work at a high profile rehearsal studio. He was around music every day and ended up meeting and playing with some of the great musicians of our day (Stevie Wonder, Wayne Shorter, Ricky Lawson and Sheila E to name a few). Perhaps best of all, he ended up befriending a childhood idol, former Spyro Gyra and current Rippingtons bassist Kim Stone, who inspired Wooton toward greater heights, and even gave him a very special blue bass that Wooton uses to this day. Wooton outperformed some of the finest New York and Los Angeles session musicians in several auditions – earning a spot in En Vogue’s band (before a member of their management team rescinded the offer), and one of only two “call backs” from Mick Fleetwood............................. While in Los Angeles, Wooton had an opportunity to sit in on a pretour Wayne Shorter rehearsal during which Shorter seemed to be more interested in preparing the musicians to have proper energy more than teaching them specifically how to play the songs. “Shorter’s rehearsal method reminded me of Bangoura's,” Wooton says, “His band would play a real soft groove for, like twenty minutes. He would interject here and there with blasts of notes or single notes held for long periods of time. Any time they started playing too loud he would quiet them down because it was all about finding and building that tension and holding it back for live performances.”
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