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ARTICLES:

September, 2002: Bass Inside magazine

April, 2000: Bassics magazine

December, 2003: Bass Inside magazine

July, 2004: review of "Come To Me" (it's an album I produced for guitarist Gregory James)

July, 2006: Gitarre und Basse

(more articles to be added in the near future, as soon as the proper archives have been ransacked)

 

“Bassist Benny Rietveld, a former sideman in Miles Davis' band, also played a big part in setting the Grand Canyon-deep grooves.
Rietveld's contributions to the band are hard to overstate. When was the last time you heard fans raving about a bassist at a guitar hero's show? Doesn't happen often. But it definitely occurred on this night at Shoreline.”

JIM HARRINGTON
liveDaily
August 7, 2006
full review here

 

"Each player in the Santana juggernaut acquitted himself with fire and balance: the main counterweight to Santana's crushing hooks
were vocalist Andy Vargas, bassist Benny Rietveld and trombonist Jeff Cressman."

THACHER SCHMID
Wisconsin Journal Sentinel
July 4, 2005

 

"Benny Rietveld is a dynamic bass player, who along with the fantastic Rodney Holmes on drums, anchors one of the finest rhythm sections in rock. Unfortunately the bass was a little low in the mix, and the cameras rarely focused on Rietveld, so you will not get a good sense of his energy and virtuosity."

Paul M. Roy
July 2004
from a review of "Supernatural Live"

 

"Rietveld is well aware of Jaco Pastorius legacy but has a lucid vision of his own bass-wise, especially on Kahi La`i. Barbara Higbie's languid reading of Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man is a highlight, but the twin soprano saxes on
Rope Dancers take the prize."

Todd Jenkins
Down Beat
December 2004
review of Mystery Of Faith
(download full article in PDF form here)

 

"It's great to hear the fantastic rhythm section of Billy Lee Lewis on drums and Benny Rietveld on bass, brings back a lot of Bay Area memories."

Frank Goodman
PureMusic.com
review of Nina Gerber's album "Not Before Noon"

 

"Benny Rietveld on bass played like a lead guitarist. His bass solo ranked alongside the wow factor you expect from Carlos himself on lead."

Paul Cashmere
Undercover Media
April 2003

 

"...percussionist Karl Perazzo, drummer Dennis Chambers and congas thumper Raul Rekow played lengthy solos that Santana himself couldn't bear to watch. The nadir came with bassist Benny Rietveld's eight-minute showpiece of spirit-sapping numbness that incorporated Imagine. Such hogwash would have been eschewed by Level 42..."

John Aizlewood
The Guardian
London, ENGLAND
June 11, 2002
(read full review here)

 

“During "Aye Aye Aye" and "Foo Foo," both from 2002's "Shaman" album, the crowd kept warm by dancing. . . Drummer Dennis Chambers soloed so long he took a brief break to refresh and then returned to pound out even more amazing rhythms. Another notable performance was made by Benny Rietveld, who may as well be the finest bass player of all time!”

Gwyn Tyme
Musicpix.net
Santana Live In Concert - Verizon Wireless Music Center - Indianapolis, IN
July 2, 2005
(full review here)

 

“Near the end of their set, all band members except drummer Dennis Chambers and bassist Benny Rietveld left the stage. The two musicians hammered out an improvised duet, in the finest jam-band tradition, that left the audience screaming for more.”

RICHARD SKELLY
Asbury Park Press
June 16, 2005

 

“Bassist Benny Rietveld had his moment in the spotlight as he opened his solo with a slapping and popping tour de force. He then moved through a handful of choruses of a blues-ey I-IV-V complete with upper register chording before culminating with melodic, single-note phrasing that implied a trumpet player using a plunger to create a "wah" effect. He took his applause with a laughing smile and a kiss for his bass that had served him so well.”

Bill Cozzo
GuitarNoise.com
August 19, 2002

 

Santana bassist Benny Rietveld takes on several musical languages fearlessly . . .
We could laud the bass technique, but the real treasure is in the composition . . . this is a very interesting, and inspiring, debut.

Don Zulaica
Alternate Music Press