CMJ (7/12/99, p.28) - "...This double album...gives [Wooten] room to flex his technical skills and showcase his innovative compositions....Wooten really lets the funk fly."
Dirty Linen (12/99-1/00, p.73) - "...a positive, uplifting and accessible listening experience that should permanently unburden Wooten of any 'player's player' stereotypes previously ascribed to him."
Personnel includes: Victor Wooten (vocals, cello, guitar, steel string guitar, acoustic & electric basses, programming); Peter Rowan, Kaila Wooten, Bootsy Collins, Tabitha Fair, Jonell Mosser, Dorothy Wooten (vocals); Count Bass D (rap vocals); Kirk Whalum (soprano & tenor saxophones); Roger "Rock" Williams (soprano saxophone); Jeff Coffin (tenor saxophone); Rudy Wooten (saxophone); Rod McGaha (trumpet); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Joseph Wooten (piano, organ, keyboards, Theremin, background vocals); Regi Wooten (guitar, nylon string guitar); Tali Ovadia, Bela Fleck (banjo); Steve Bailey (fretless bass); JD Blair (drums, snare drum, drum programming); Kelly Gravely, Carter Beauford (drums); Jim Roberts (djembe, shaker); Darrell Tibbs (percussion).
Principally recorded at Masterlink Studios and Monkey Finger Studio, Nashville, Tennessee. Includes liner notes by Victor Wooten.
YIN YANG was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Performance.
Like Pastorius, Clarke, and Patitucci before him, Victor Wooten is on a quest to take the electric bass to a new level of consciousness. As anyone who has heard him play can attest, he has more than enough talent to do just that. His third solo release, the double-disc YIN-YANG, displays all of his many talents including his exceptional vocal abilities. The styles covered here are almost too numerous to name: jazz, funk, fusion, R&B, blue grass, avant-garde, and more. Wooten handles them all expertly and sometimes all at the same time. His many stellar guests include saxophonist Kirk Whalum, banjo master Bela Fleck, Dave Matthews' drummer Carter Beauford, as well as the hopelessly funky Bootsy Collins and his endlessly entertaining 16-month-old daughter Kaila. The results are an incredibly creative collection from a tremendously talented virtuoso.