Bill, Victor is a great young man. I run into him at the Summer NAMM demoing most years. He draws one of the biggest crowds of the show, just standing in the aisle, slapping his ass off!
His whole family...all his brothers, at least, are monsters. One, "Futureman", who is a little "out there" is the percussionist for Bella Fleck.
When he comes to Lexington, he sits on the end of the stage after his performance and talks bass with anyone who wants to, and always stays until the last one is gone.
On of my fondest memories is the last time I saw my mentor, Ray Brown. He, Victor and another monster, a legit guy named Edgar Meyer did a three bass show in Louisville. They hadn't met before the show.
Victor was gracious and respectful of both older players. He and Edgar did a silly little thing of almost zero musical significance (hell of a show, though), where one would start a walking bass line and the other would "steal" the bass and try to show him up. Little Victor could walk under the armpit of "giant" Edgar. They ended up on the floor, "hopelessly" intertwined. Kinda dumb, but it brought the house down.
This is an old clip. You should hear Victor now. His latest trick is to detune his bass while playing, converting it to a percussion instrument. Then, he re-tunes it to pitch without missing a beat.
Good find. Great guy, getting well-deserved recognition.
Russ
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