Todd RichmondBorn in the 60's, bassist Todd Richmond grew up in the suburbs of San Diego. The radio was a constant companion, as were musical instruments starting with both piano and guitar at age 8. As the "Boss Radio" days evolved into FM, Todd discovered Hendrix, Clapton and Steely Dan. He was guitarist in a series of bands starting in high school, and continued through the 80's and 90's playing a mix of cover and original rock/funk/blues. As guitarist, vocalist, engineer, and producer, his band The Blopucks released "A Blopuck Xmas" in 1988.A move towards jazz saw a switch to the bass, playing in both small and large ensembles, including the album "Exothermic Jazz" with the Caltech Big Band in 1994. A move to San Francisco resulted in a bop quartet Blue Train, then it was back to SoCal, playing bass in a jazz trio, and also a hired gun guitarist in the Laura Preble Band. The highlight of that stint was a gig playing the side stage at Coors Amphitheater for the Steely Dan show in 2000. In January of '01, Todd joined with internationally renowned jazz guitarist Kaz Takeda to form the Kaz Takeda Quartet. This lineup released two albums in Asia ("While My Guitar Gently Sings" in 2001 and "First Wave" in 2002), and toured Japan in the spring of '03. Wanting to move from straight ahead jazz and blues to a more eclectic and diverse sound, Todd answered an ad for "bass player wanted", and auditioned for Simpleflower. He immediately fell head over heels for the songs and the players, and joined the band . Bringing experience in a variety of genres and styles, and primarily relying on his unique feel on 5-string fretless, the direction of the band began to change, and the sound continued to evolve with a ferocious creative process set in motion. Unofficial version | |
