California music accessories brand Gruv Gear is proud to feature Bassist Amanda Ruzza. Amanda is part of a family of prominent world-class musicians that heartily endorse Gruv Gear products.
Amanda Ruzza hails from São Paulo, Brazil. She discovered her muse at an early age - perhaps the result of her Chilean mother who loved opera, and her father, Italian, whose passion was rock n’ roll. Growing up in a house humming with music, Amanda began playing bass early, and was playing professional performance engagements by age 13. Eventually, in Brazil, she worked with distinguished Brazilian producers and arrangers, including Grammy Award-winner Moogie Canazio, Maestro Jobam and Sony Music Japan’s Osny Mello. Besides being a musician fluent in an array of styles, Ruzza is fluent in several languages as well - Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and English. In developing her musical skills, she is able to cross all cultural boundaries.
Her work with groups covering a wide range of styles, including Arturo O’Farrill, Global Noize, Chris Stover’s Caetano Veloso Project, Jill Sobule, as well as with her own band, the Amanda Ruzza Group, evidence her flexibility. Amanda draws on her multicultural background as a primary influence on her passion for composing music - music that seamlessly assimilates elements of funk, jazz and South American rhythms.
Ms. Ruzza earned a dual degree in Jazz Bass Performance and Liberal Arts at The New School in New York City. As a session musician on electric bass, she has contributed on recordings with Bebel Gilberto, Arturo O’Farrill, Jason Miles, and Simone Giuliani. She is a recipient of the highly competitive Latin American World Tour Scholarship. In 2003, Amanda began touring and recording on electric bass with the all-girl country band, Mustang Sally, based in Nashville, Tennessee. While in the band, she worked with country music producer Barry Beckett, recorded four albums, and played for US military bases overseas in Japan, South Korea, and within the US.
Amanda Ruzza’s debut solo album was released this past April, and she will continue to perform with her group while providing bass accompaniment for other artists, producers and studios.
About Gruv Gear:
Gruv Gear exists to bring innovative and well-thought out products to creative professionals and beyond, including career musicians, DJs, photographers, filmmakers, mobile producers and more. The company is on- track not only to become a premium lifestyle accessories brand in the Music/DJ and Photo Industries, which is a small fraction of its potential market, but also expand to a broader range of industries that will increase its global footprint exponentially. To date, Gruv Gear products are sold in 5 continents and shipped directly to adoring fans worldwide.