What’s Old is New Again & Not Much Different

Victor Wooten: A Show Of Hands 15

Words By Benjamin Michael Solis

Victor Wooten sought to release a new, all-solo performance album exactly 10 years after he release of his 1996 debut A Show Of Hands.

But time flew by and the album, now 15 years old, remains a must-have for any aspiring jazz bassist looking for a contemporary hero.

A Show Of Hands 15 is Wooten’s classic re-released, and it contains all the original tracks re-mastered.

Wooten said the changes were much-needed.

“The record needed to be much louder,” Wooten told The Voice. “So we upped the decibels and raised the top and bottom frequencies to change the dynamics of the whole album.”

Although the changes in the presentation are noticeable, life without new output from one of the bass guitar’s elder Jedi masters is disappointing.

But the re-release does feature three new bonus tracks – a Flecktones-era live, loop-pedal solo, new original “Flip Flop,” and a reworking of the album’s intro track “U Can’t Hold No Groove.”

And yet again, this is only an appetizer while we wait for new material by Wooten and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.

For the sheer iconic nature of the original album and for Wooten’s influence on modern jazz, the album deserved the retreatment. But if you own the original, and have no qualms with the album sonically, you have no reason to buy a disc that you already have.

www.victorwooten.com