NAMM 2011 VIDEO: bass extraordinaire Victor Wooten interviewed

NAMM 2011: It was 9am, not the sort of hour most musicians are awake let alone ready to talk shop. But most musicians aren't bass legend Victor Wooten. The five-time Grammy winner was here to launch an updated version of his Fodera Yin Yang signature bass, as well as put in appearances for some of the other companies he works with.

Despite the early hour, Wooten was a charming and thoughtful conversationalist. In addition to showing off his new bass, he spoke about his new album, A Show Of Hands 15 (a remastered, 15th anniversary commemorative edition of his groundbreaking release, which features three new songs) and offered his thoughts on some of his bass heroes, some of whom he rubbed cyberspace shoulders with recently on MusicRadar's 25 greatest bassists of all time.

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.