Future Man
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Royel (Roy) Wilfred Wooten (stage name Futureman, known as Futch to his fans, born October 13, 1957 in Hampton, Virginia) is an inventor, musician and composer. He is a drummer and member of the jazz quartet Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. The other members are banjoist Béla Fleck, saxophonist Jeff Coffin, and bass guitar virtuoso Victor Wooten (Royel Wooten's brother).
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[edit] Biography
Roy Wooten was raised in a military family and therefore traveled frequently. He is the second of five sons born to Dorothy and Elijah "Pete" Wooten. He graduated from Denbigh High School in Newport News, Virginia in 1975. He briefly attended music classes at Norfolk State University upon graduating from high school, and then embarked on his professional music career. He and his brothers moved to Nashville, Tennessee in the mid-1980s.
All of his brothers are musicians. The oldest, Regi, is a guitarist and much sought-after teacher in Nashville. Wooten, Regi, and his three younger brothers, Rudy (saxophone) Joseph (keyboards), and Victor (bass guitar), performed as The Wooten Brothers in numerous musical venues in the Hampton Roads area of southeast Virginia during the 1970s.
Wooten is a two-time Grammy Award -winning performer with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. For the Flecktones, he plays the Drumitar, a novel electronic instrument of his own invention.
More recently, Wooten has developed a new electronic instrument called the RoyEl, which resembles a piano but plays notes not found in the traditional western music scales. This instrument is based off of the periodic table of elements and the golden ratio.
[edit] Solo work
Like the other members of the Flecktones, Futureman has worked on various solo projects during his time off from the band. On his own Wooten often uses the pseudonym "RoyEl", the name he gave to the keyboard instrument he invented which has been explained above. Future Man's solo albums are experimental and incorporate diverse musical genres and concepts. On Evolution de la Musique, for example, he infuses classical music with jazz elements, especially improvisation, and spoken word. Future Man's solo works are:
- The Seamless Script
- Pi Lullaby
- Evolution de la Musique
[edit] Future projects
In 2005, the Flecktones took a year off from touring to pursue solo projects. For his part, Futureman has announced that "we live in the age of the DJ". He is seeking to redefine himself as a "digital jockey" — a fusion of his own ideas about music with the tools of a modern disc jockey. Future Man announced on his website that this project was under production during Winter 2004-2005, and that it involved his brother Victor Wooten and electronic artist Megawatt.
[edit] Tax evasion controversy
In November 2001, Wooten was indicted on four counts of tax evasion, for the years 1995 to 1998. His defense in 2004 involved many implausible assertions. He claimed, for example, that the Internal Revenue Service is a debt collector based in Puerto Rico. He also used esoteric and arcane tax protester literature.
The court ordered a competency evaluation and postponed the trial.
On May 4, 2005, Future Man pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion; however, his reason for not paying taxes was, "I don't need to pay taxes, I'm from the future." He was sentenced on August 8 of 2005 to two years probation and was ordered to pay $131,000 in back taxes.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Future Man Music
- Evolution D'Amour
- Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
- USA Today: What IS that thing? Futureman explains the Drumitar
- Roth & Company on Future Man's tax evasion defense
| Béla Fleck and the Flecktones |
| Béla Fleck • Victor Wooten • Future Man • Jeff Coffin Howard Levy |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio releases: Béla Fleck and the Flecktones • Flight of the Cosmic Hippo • UFO Tofu • Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest • Left of Cool • Greatest Hits of the 20th Century • Outbound • Little Worlds • The Hidden Land |
| Live releases: Live Art • Live at the Quick |
