Anthony Wellington: He's Got Victor's Back

‘The best way to learn how to be a good accompanying bassist is to play behind another bass player,” asserts Anthony Wellington ( www.anthonywellington.com ), who has spent six years as the second bassist in Victor Wooten's touring bands. He notes, “When you're the only bassist in the band, you have the whole sonic range to yourself—but when you back another bass player who's featured, you have to constantly listen and watch. Victor writes amazing and challenging bass lines, but if he comes down to my range it's my job to stay out of the way—even if it means cutting my volume or dropping out altogether. I'll literally look to see when and where Vic's hands are headed on his fingerboard. The whole process heightens your awareness.” Not that Wellington needs to be any more on top of things. In addition to his playing role, which has increased with every tour and on Wooten's last two CDs, Anthony serves as bass and guitar tech, stage manager, monitor engineer, crew chief, and in a climactic moment at the end of the show, when Wooten solos on a stream of basses, it's Wellington who hands them all to Victor—so he's continually bounding around.

Actually, a leap of faith is what got Wellington onto the Wooten bandwagon in the first place. Born in Alexandria, Virginia and raised in a gritty section of southeast Washington, D.C., Anthony discovered bass because it was the instrument of choice in his ‘hood, with local thumpers playing anthems like “Glide” by Pleasure (Nathaniel Phillips), and “Slide” by Slave (Mark Adams). Wellington geared up on a Fender Musicmaster from his sister's boyfriend, and a Jazz Bass from his high school, and then he headed for the University of Miami , at the behest of his high school music teacher. There, he met Steve Bailey, saw Jaco perform, and turned his focus to producing, putting down the bass altogether. Returning home, Anthony built a recording studio, but he “fell victim to his environment,” leading to a one-year prison sentence. While he was in jail, his home studio was robbed, leaving only his Jazz Bass, which was under his sofa. “I took that as an omen and started playing bass again,” he relates, “and it felt like a hole in my life had been refilled.” Another move upon his release was to pick up a copy of Bass Player , “to see who the hot players were.” He laughs, “Victor was on the cover as Bassist Of The Year [Nov. '93], and in the upper corner there was a little movie of him doing a back flip if you thumbed through the pages. I immediately thought, This guy probably can't play. Then I got the Flecktones' UFO Tofu and I was blown away!”

Wellington attended an outdoor Flecktones show in Maryland and got to speak to Wooten between sets. He recalls, “We hit it off; we were both short, black bass players with Virginia roots and the same interests: music, martial arts, and boxing. I was still a bit rough around the edges, but Vic saw potential in me and he gave me his number. Words can't explain how grateful I am to have him as a friend and mentor.” A few years later, Wooten gave Anthony a copy of his solo debut and said he was considering expanding his duo with J.D. Blair for his next tour. Wellington casually told Wooten that if he needed any help he was available. Not long afterward, the call came. Remembers Anthony, “I had just been offered a good-paying position with benefits at the Department of Education, so it was a choice between job security and a tour that was only two weeks long.” He smiles, “I took the tour. I've always had a gypsy spirit, and when you have faced an 80-year prison sentence, you get a different perspective.” As it turned out, the tour was extended, and Wellington has never looked back. On his “time off” between road runs, Anthony records in his home studio with his wife, maintains over 90 students at Hot Licks Guitar Shop in Waldorf, Maryland, and gigs locally—including a duo with singer/songwriter John Luskey. Asked about the hectic pace, he counters, “I saw a T-shirt that said, ‘You don't stop playing music because you grow old—you grow old because you stop playing music.'”