Ray Riendeau

Utilizing a repertoire of innovative arrangements and contemporary techniques, Ray Riendeau has showcased his virtuoso bass playing ability on four discs including All Funked Up, Groove Therapy, Enlightenment, and Arrhythmia that he has released through his Groove Theory Records label. Before Rob Halford left to rejoin Judas Priest in 2003, Riendeau recorded two studio projects, a live double CD release, and toured around the world with the Priest frontman as a member of the band Halford. Besides his work with Halford, Riendeau is acknowledged for his contributions alongside highly-revered guitarists such as Gary Hoey, Greg Koch, and Neil Zaza. While a member of Machines of Loving Grace, Riendeau played on the movie soundtrack of "The Crow" which sold over one million units. Riendeau's playing has also been featured in a number of commercial ads for Fox TV, MTV, United Artists, and Disney. As a clinician, Riendeau has demonstrated his concepts to students throughout the United States at events such as Bass Day - L.A., the National Guitar Summer Workshop, Bass Day - New York, and the School of Bass. Riendeau has also assisted in the research and development of Sunn bass amps and Fender series combo amps for Fender Musical Instruments. In 2005, Riendeau co-founded Contempt Clothing, a brand of clothing that combines cutting-edge design with attitude.

Now recognized as one of today's most unique voices in the art of contemporary solo electric bass performance, Ray Riendeau has taken this new outing in a completely different direction from his previous releases. Arrhythmia can best be described as a multi-layered cross section of jazz, funk, hip-hop, and tribal influences combined within the context of rhythmically intense and at times harmonically ambiguous arrangements. Here, the history of the jazz tradition meets the modern evolution of instrumental experimentation. Even though this endeavor finds Riendeau sharing space within a band format, bass fanatics don't fret because all the virtuoso bass chops you'd expect to find on a Riendeau release are definitely still present here along with highly textured grooves, odd meters, and angular melodies. Alongside Riendeau, the nucleus of band consists of saxophonist Ted Belledin and percussionist Joe Morris, and joining this power trio is Jesse McGuire (Tower of Power) on trumpet along with keys, a rapper, and a turntablist. Riendeau's tour-de-force solo blowing, thunderous slap grooves, and improvisation skills are brilliant and inspiring. By fusing Riendeau's unconventional style of slap techniques with Morris' eclectic vocabulary of drum grooves, the interplay between these two has never been tighter. Ted Belledin's playing and scorching solo explorations are stellar. A complete track listing includes: "Arrhythmia", "Kundalini", "Momentum", "Right View", "Bodhi Tree", "What Is Rhythm?", "Decon-Recon", "Right Speech", "Chant", "Sunyata", "Hidden Channels of the Mind", "Mental Landscape", "Ornithology", and "911." Bottom Line: This is Ray Riendeau's finest outing as a leader to date.

By combining the distinct tonal and technological innovations of LightWave System's optical pickup system with the virtuoso solo bass explorations of Ray Riendeau, listeners everywhere who are in search of something different are now given the opportunity to experience a completely unique recording. This is the very first project of its kind to fully demonstrate the capabilities of LightWave Systems revolutionary optical pickup technologies in an exclusively solo bass environment, and after hearing just the first few tones of the opening track, you'll recognize that there is something tonally that is very special about this recording. Enlightenment is a compilation of nicely arranged cover tunes for solo electric bass performance and Riendeau original compositions. Via his optical pickup equipped fretted Fender 5-string, a 13-pin output jack, and a standard midi cable sent to a fanout box, Riendeau was able to not only blend different string groupings any which way he chose, but his setup also allowed him to mix, pan, and effect the signal flow of each of his Fender's strings individually throughout the stereo field. So what you hear is bass in a totally new way. Accompanying Riendeau on certain selections is Jesse McGuire (Tower of Power) on trumpet, Ted Belledin on saxophone, and Joe Morris on various percussion instruments. A complete track listing includes: "Optical Illusions", "Sunny" (Bobby Hebb), "Living for the City" (Stevie Wonder), "Penny Lane" (The Beatles), "Infared", "Tell Me Something Good" (Rufus), "Man in the Mirror" (Michael Jackson), and "Shiva." Bottom Line: Even though this recording is less than twenty-two minutes in length, it is a must own for all bass fanatics.

Arrhythmia

Ray Riendeau - Bass
Ted Belledin - Baritone, Tenor & Soprano Saxophones
Klaus Hugl - Piano
Joe Morris - Drums
Release Date - 2002
Record Label - Groove Theory Records

Enlightenment

Ray Riendeau - Bass
Jesse McGuire - Trumpet; Ted Belledin - Saxophone; Joe Morris - Cajon, Shakers & Tamborine
Release Date - 2001
Record Label - Groove Theory Records

Groove Therapy

Ray Riendeau - Bass
Joe Morris - Drums
Release Date - 2000
Record Label - Groove Theory Records

All Funked Up

Ray Riendeau - Bass
Joe Morris - Drums
Release Date - 1998
Record Label - Groove Theory Records

For more information on Ray Riendeau visit: RayRiendeau.net.