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Roy Wilfred Wooten ( Stage Name '''Future Man'''; born October 13 , 1957 ) 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 Bassist Victor Wooten , who is Future Man's brother. BIOGRAPHY Future Man is most widely recognized for his unique playing style. He plays Percussion by using a custom-built Drum Machine contained in a Guitar -shaped body. This instrument, which he calls the " SynthAxe Drumitar ", is held like a guitar and has many small pads which are tapped with the fingers to produce sounds. Some of the sounds are from a common Drum Kit , like Snare Drum s; others are Natural , such as the thunderstorm effects on the song ''Peace, Be Still'' from the Flecktones album '' Three Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest ''; still others are strange and otherworldly. During live performances, Future Man is often seen operating the synth-axe drumitar with one hand, playing a Cymbal with the other, and operating a Bass Drum with his feet. Wooten is also a capable drummer on a standard Drum Kit , as heard on Fleck's '' Tales From The Acoustic Planet ''. Future Man's interest in Invention , combined with an inclination toward Science and Mathematics , has led him to experiment with creating other instruments. The most notable of these is the "RoyEl", a Piano -like instrument with an arrangement of keys based on the Periodic Table . In an attempt to fuse music and nature, Future Man took the Atomic Number of each Chemical Element and multiplied them by powers of the Golden Ratio until obtaining a value corresponding to a Frequency within the range of human hearing. This method, of course, leads to Pitches that do not fall within the Chromatic Scale , producing unusual and Dissonant sound. The music he has created with his inventions also is influenced by cellist Paul Brantley, with whom he has a musical partnership that he describes as analogous to the collaborations of Miles Davis and Gil Evans . SOLO WORK Like the other members of the Flecktones, Future Man has worked on various solo projects during his time off from the band. On his own he often uses the pseudonym "RoyEl", a name he also gave to another of his invented instruments. 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:
FUTURE PROJECTS In 2005 , the Flecktones took a year off from touring to pursue solo projects. For his part, Future Man has announced that "we live in the age of the DJ ", and 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 . 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 IRS is actually a Puerto Rican debt collector. He also used esoteric and arcane Tax Protester literature and at one point made the bold claim that because he was from the future, the U.S. Government has no authority to tax him. These actions led the court to order a competency evaluation and postpone the trial. On May 4 2005 , Future Man pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. He was sentenced on August 8 to two years Probation and was ordered to pay $131,000 in back Taxes . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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