benny rietveld-bio

biography

While a music composition student at the University of Hawaii, Benny played bass with a number of visiting jazz artists including Richie Cole, Barney Kessel, Howard Roberts, Bill Mays, Bud Shank, and Makoto Ozone. He did a short tour with The Crusaders, and played regularly with Gabe Baltazar, an alumnus of the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Hawaii's unique local music scene also gave Benny the chance to play at luaus and square dances as well as the usual weddings and shows.

Relocating to San Francisco in 1983, Benny played with Ray Obiedo, Andy Narell, Pete Escovedo, Linda Tillery and many others. He joined Sheila E in 1984, recording and touring with her for two years (once as the opening act for Prince) as well as appearing with her in the seminal rap film Krush Groove. In 1986 he toured, recorded and co-wrote some material with singer/songwriter Bonnie Hayes, who released a self-titled album on Chrysalis in 1987.

Benny joined Miles Davis' band in 1988. He traveled throughout most of the world with the group, as well as performing in the Warner Bros. video Miles In Paris, at the 1990 Grammy Awards, and on numerous TV shows. He also appears on Dingo, a soundtrack album with Miles and Michel Legrand, and on Miles Around The World, a live album. During that period, he still found time to perform and record with other jazz notables such as Wayne Shorter and Al Foster.

In 1990, Benny joined Santana and played on the albums Spirits Dancing In The Flesh and Milagro, for which he wrote the song, "Red Prophet". He toured the world with them until 1992, appearing on many TV shows and celebrated music festivals. He left the band in 1992, but re-joined in 1997.

He premiered a contemporary musical work in 1991 written for him by New York composer Joel Thome at the Los Angeles Museum Of Modern Art. The piece, The Book Of Beginnings IV: Adoration Of The Earthly Real, was written for electric bass and chamber ensemble. While performing and writing his own music regularly, Benny can also be heard on albums with such diverse artists as John Lee Hooker, Zucchero, Booker T. Jones and Keola Beamer. Since 1991, some of his production projects have included artists like Mexican pop singer Edi Xol, Japanese rock singer Sachiko, Bay Area jazz guitarist Gregory James, and flamenco artist Chuscales, among others. In between tours with Santana, Benny has also written multimedia music for ComputerLife, Computer Gaming World, Sprint and others.

In February 2000, as a member of the Santana Band and appearing on the 1999 blockbuster hit Supernatural, Benny won 8 Grammy Awards™, including Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, and Song Of The Year. The album gave him a chance to work with such luminaries as Dave Matthews, Everlast, Rob Thomas, Eagle-Eye Cherry and The Dust Brothers. Benny also appears on subsequent Santana releases.

Benny also released his first solo album, Mystery Of Faith in 2002, and is working on a second release as well as a bass instructional epic saga.

Recently, Benny completed his first film score for “Brooklyn Rules”, an independent feature film starring Alec Baldwin, Mena Suvari, and Freddie Prinze, Jr., and is planning tours with drummer Cindy Blackman and guitarist/producer Corrado Rustici.