Charlie Wooton Project
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Charlie Wooton Project

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Band World Jam

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"Georgia Music Magazine"

Georgia Music Magazine featured Charlie in their latest "Roots Issue"
Link
www.georgiamusic.org - Lisa love


"They are Awesome"

“They are awesome, and, you know, living in New Orleans, I’ve got to say I’ve become a little addicted to zydeco music,”…”Oh we were dancing. You should have seen us, all standing behind the camera crew.”
Kyra Phillips
CNN World News
- C.N.N.


"Relix Magazine"

CWP's "Higher Than Low" will be featured on the Relix Compilation CD coming out in their April/May issue. This is their biggest issue og the year and it will hit 1/2 million readers and be at most Major Music Festivals across the United States.
Link
www.relix.com - Relix


"Zydefunk"

“…has the joint jumping at TenEleven Galleria The band’s zydeco-saturated rockin’ funk had dancers crowding the floor all three nights of the Carolina Downhome Blues Festival.”
Chronicle-Independent
Camden, SC
- Chronicle-Independent


"Blues in Britain"

Charlie is mentioned by Geoff Achison.
www.blueprint-blues.co.uk - Blues in Britain


"George Porter Type Bass"

“Otell Burbridge type bass, George Porter type bass. Crescent City type bass that rattles your backbone and makes your teeth hurt. Wooton has become a virtuoso with his axe, and fronts an accordion driven funk band that brings in the rain from New Orleans.”
The Eleventh Hour
Valdosta, GA
- The Elventh Hour


"Rhythms Australia"

Mentioned with Geoff Achison
www.rhythms.com.au - Rhythms Australia


"Caffienated Zydeco"

“This is probably one of the most entertaining bands you’ll see this year. Led by electric bass wild man, Charlie Wooton, ZydeFunk blends caffienated zydeco with nutty elements of N’Awlins R&B, bad ass funk, and even some Caribbean flavahs. What you get is dizzying party music that will have your head spinnin’ and your butt shakin’, I guarantee!”
Bonterra Lowcounty Blues Bash
Charleston, SC

- Bonterra Lowcountry Blues Bash


"Lettin' It Go"

“Bands that attempt to play traditional music, be it blues, jazz, country or other forms, face a common problem. They often haven’t lived the culture they hope to represent… Such is not the case with ZydeFunk… Bassist/bandleader, Charlie Wooton’s, zydeco crash course came while touring for a year with Chubby Carrier and Bayou Swamp Band.”
The Creative Loafing
Atlanta, GA
- Creative Loafing


"Caffienated Zydeco"

“This is probably one of the most entertaining bands you’ll see this year. Led by electric bass wild man, Charlie Wooton, ZydeFunk blends caffienated zydeco with nutty elements of N’Awlins R&B, bad ass funk, and even some Caribbean flavahs. What you get is dizzying party music that will have your head spinnin’ and your butt shakin’, I guarantee!”
Bonterra Lowcounty Blues Bash
Charleston, SC

- Bonterra Lowcountry Blues Bash


Discography

1st C.D. is titled Zydefunk
Charlie Wooton Project C.D is done!! Caroline Aiken CD at Eddie's Attic March 6 2010 with Grammy award winning Yonrico Scott and Tomi Martin! LIVE STUDIO RECORDING ZYDEFUNK w/ CHUBBY CARRIER AND MICHAEL DOUCET!!!! !!
You can hear some of our music in the audio section of this epk

Photos

Bio

“Louisiana-Bass-Driven” funk with hints of the Caribbean, West Africa and Brasil.

You may know Charlie from his Louisiana band Zydefunk.
Wanting to expand his horizons and play different genres of music Charlie formed a side project by the name of "Dysfunktional Funktion". "I came home one night after a DF gig and was telling my wife how rewarding it was to play all the music that I studied over the years and she said well then why don't you make it more of a priority." That was the birth of the Charlie Wooton Project. This allowed Charlie to play any style and call up any musician he had been wanting to play with outside of Zydefunk. The band is joined by a rotating cast of musicians to offer up a fresh take on their live performance. His personal experience with West African, Brasilian, Latin and Zydeco as well as other World music styles drive the adventurous nature of the Charlie Wooton Project. Wooton has benefited greatly from his ever-curious mind, taking something from every musician he met. As a result Wooton's playing is informed by these varied experiences, and fueled by his zest for recreating his music with every performance.

How does a kid from a little town become influenced by so many different genres? To understand the Charlie Wooton Project you have to first understand Charlie.

Charlie grew up in Lafayette, La. with 4 older brothers who were all exceptional musicians, one of which has a doctorate in music and is the head of percussion at USM, Dr. John Wooton. A lot was expected of him to hold up the musical Wooton family name, a challenge he invited. "My whole life was a competition, I had to do it bigger, better and faster than my brothers, whatever it was, sports, girls, drinkin', and MUSIC." Studying Jazz and Classical music in school by day and gigging by the age of 14 with his brother David by night, Charlie's musical education was literally night and day. At age 17 he got a gig with Bobby Brooks, playing jazz. "I was reading charts every night and if I didn't have a chart Bobby would play the song anyway." From reading charts to playing Zydeco, a roots music that is handed down by generations through interpretation and story telling, Charlie landed a gig with Grammy Award winner Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band. "We would play the LaLa (the dance) for 6 hours straight, no breaks." Charlie toured with Chubby for about a year and till this day gives Chubby credit for teaching him how to put on a show and take care of business.

International Festival de Louisianne is a festival in Lafayette that invites nations from all over the world to participate, this is where Charlie met Mohamod Bongora, a djmbe player from West Africa. One of many life changing moments for him. "Mohamod would make us play a single groove for an hour straight, without getting louder or softer nor could we get faster or slower, it was all about the groove, now that's a lesson for life."

At 20 years old with $20 in his pocket Wooton moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a sound man at 3rd Encore rehearsal studios. Here he got to play with many of his childhood idols, one being Kim Stone. "When I was a teenager I would listen to Kim's bass playing on Spyro Gyro records and dream of meeting him, well I did and he gave me the bass that was on those records." Charlie got call backs from Mic Fleetwood, Seals and Crofts, En Vogue and many more but never landed the big gig. After spending 3 years in L.A. Charlie moved back to the south where he resided in Atlanta, Ga.

Forming Zydefunk during this time period Charlie was able to get back to his roots. Zydefunk, which is still going strong till this day, was featured on CNN World News, headlined many festivals throughout the southeast and played all the local crawfish boils and Mardi Gras parties in Atlanta. This is were Charlie really honed in on his skills on how to entertain an audience. (you can learn more about Zydefunk at www.zydefunk.com)

Playing and recording with Angie Aparo was another life lesson for Charlie, "When I met Angie all I wanted to do is make music move forward, Angie taught me how to take a step back and make the music expand and grow outward, very cool."

Tropicus 22, an eight piece Brasillian samba band, was a dream gig for Wooton, he was always infatuated with Brasillian culture. "The first gig they kept telling me I wasn't doing anything wrong but something wasn't right, until this beautiful Brasillian girl started to samba in front of me and all of a sudden I got the groove. This was the same with zydeco and cajun music from my home, it was all about the dance, food and language that made the music so good."

Charlie also worked as Count M'Butu (percussionist w/ the Derek Trucks Band) and Caroline Aiken's music director.
Just before leaving Atlanta Charlie recorded a live CD with Caroline at Eddie's Attic along with Grammy award winner Yonrico Scott on drums and Tommy Martin on guitar. He was the music dir