{"id":269509,"date":"2025-03-28T10:02:42","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T17:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livemusicblog.com\/?p=269509"},"modified":"2025-05-16T16:17:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T20:17:20","slug":"bernie-worrell-wave-from-the-woouniverse-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livemusicblog.com\/alternative-indie\/post-punk\/bernie-worrell-wave-from-the-woouniverse-album\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Watt Adds Post-Punk Vibe to \u201cPedro WOO\u201d On Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When it came to putting together Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse, a massive project involving rummaging through dozens of recording sessions of half-finished songs in the late funk pioneer\u2019s archives, musical director and producer Evan Taylor knew he\u2019d be bringing in some very special guests. On the top of his list was Mike Watt (the Minutemen, the Stooges), who was someone both he and Worrell had worked with before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a comfort level of working with people you\u2019re used to and that you love and admire and respect, but with this project especially, I wanted to make sure we had people on the album that Bernie also loved and respected. Mike Watt and I not only worked on many projects together outside of Bernie over the years, but he had collaborated on several occasions with Bernie, including live with the Bernie Worrell Orchestra,\u201d says Taylor, who toured with Worrell in the Bernie Worrell Orchestra with Watt and produced Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse, which also features Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), Fred Schneider (the B-52s), Sean Ono Lennon, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watt is featured on the track, \u201cPedro WOO,\u201d which was the first song Taylor began working on for this ambitious project in 2022. \u201cBernie wrote the song and performed the synth solo, most likely on a Minimoog, and the vocals at the end. I had [P-Funk\u2019s] Bootsy Collins take a listen to it first to help with the arrangement and structure. He helped tighten it up and pointed out what he liked and things he didn\u2019t like. He\u2019s very precise. I played some ARP Pro Soloist and ARP Solina String Ensemble to pay tribute to the sounds I had grown so familiar with over my tenure with Bernie,\u201d says Taylor, who began working with Worrell in 2009 and co-produced three of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer\u2019s records \u2014 the acclaimed 2010 Standards and two EPs Prequel and BWO Is Landing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next step was sending the track to Watt in San Pedro, California. \u201cHe took it in a direction I didn\u2019t anticipate,\u201d admits Taylor. \u201cHe had unique harmonic ideas that he incorporated to lift the song into a soul\/post-punk hybrid. It was like the tonality of post-punk bass superimposed on funk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In case you\u2019re wondering who Pedro WOO is, Taylor reveals, \u201cPedro WOO is a state of mind<\/a>, combining the quirkiness of the WOOniverse (Bernie’s home) and the unique funk of San Pedro (Mike Watt’s home).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-punk meets funk isn\u2019t the only genre bender on the 13-track double album, which explores many sides of Worrell\u2019s musical life. There\u2019s also \u201cTranscendence,\u201d which leans into his classical roots, \u201cThe Big WOO,\u201d which showcases his funny side, and \u201cRe-Enter Black Light (Phase II), which sounds like a cinematic jazz fusion dream, among a bevy of funkadelic songs and other musical gems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the eclectic nature of the release, Musoscribe.com says, \u201cThe music is as all-over-the-place as that roster would suggest, but the unifying element is Worrell\u2019s always-compelling, always lyrical keyboard work. There are soaring and soothing instrumental tunes, deep-fried funk, up-tempo dance numbers, and more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what other critics are saying about the release: \u201cPrepare to be transported to the far reaches of the musical cosmos with Wave From the WOOniverse.\u201d (Psychedelic Baby magazine) \u201cWorrell\u2019s essence and affinity for collaboration are truly on display throughout this epic 13-song track list.\u201d (One West magazine)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse\u00a0was released on Org Music initially on vinyl on Record Store Day (April 20, 2024) and then digitally and on CD in August 2024 at all DSPs (linktr.ee\/bernieworrell<\/a>). The lineup includes Bootsy Collins (James Brown, P-Funk), Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), Fred Schneider (the B-52s), Mike Watt (The Minutemen, The Stooges), Leo Nocentelli (The Meters) and Sean Ono-Lennon, Leo Nocentelli, Miho Hatori, Steve Scales, Marc Ribot, Fred Wesley, Marco Benevento, Stanton Moore, Steven Bernstein, Daru Jones, Will Calhoun, Buckethead, Norwood Fisher, and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n

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