Band Members
Joseph Valenti Guitar & Vocals
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Joseph Valenti (JJ) grew up in Blue Point, NY and started playing Guitar at the age of 19, after the very first time he saw “The Grateful Dead”-live. He was immediately hooked and wanted to play.  JJ studied many different styles such as Rock 'n' Roll, Blues, Reggae, Ska, Alternative, Punk Rock and Folk. Songwriting came easy for JJ as he has always had a deep love for music, writing, painting, and the arts overall.

JJ started getting his toes wet gigging out live, with his first band “F Dub” -a Long Island Reggae/Punk band. He also tinkered on a few other projects and made some albums over the years.


JJ On Music:
“I love it because it helps us feel love and unity, heals the hurt, and so much more! I love lyrics and poetry. There’s nothing like live music”!  “My Guitar is my prized possession, if I were to lose it, it would be like losing an arm”.


  • Equipment
Mexican Strat Partscaster Pedals:
Synth Wah Envelope Filter, Boss DS1, Behinger Wah, Amp: Blues Junior with Ted Weber Speaker

  • Influences
Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Sublime, Bob Marley. That's the core four.
Chris Danowski Guitar & Vocals
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Chris Danowski's love for music began at a very young age, while growing up on Long Island. He held his first guitar at age 3. Organized music started in the 4th grade-playing clarinet. In junior high he moved on to Alto-Saxophone for the school Jazz band and he began learning the piano on his own. In high school, Chris was in two Jazz bands and added the Tenor Sax to his repertoire, and went back to studying Guitar. Chris then began learning to play Bass and Drums.  Since then, Chris has always written his own music.
 
His first "Rock Band" was in college, playing covers that included the grunge era, along with the resurgence of "Jamband" hippie music, that included; Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, Widespread Panic and Phish, etc.  His first original band, "Handsome Frank", was based in Boston, MA (from 2001 to 2006) where he sang, and played guitar and keyboards. Handsome Frank played the Boston scene and had occasional gigs in New Jersey, New Hampshire and Cape Cod. They recorded one CD of original music. 

Throughout the years, Chris has hosted and co-hosted open mics on his own and with friends, such as Charlie Mirro from the band "Reckoning".  He has also sat in and played with Reckoning on occasion.


  • Equipment
Fender American Tex-Mex Special Stratocaster, Triple Sunburst wood finish, maple neck, with a rosewood fretboard. 1970's fat headstock and a dual single coil humbucker at the bridge.
Amplifier; Fishman Loudbox with an Ibanez Tube-Screamer TS-9

  • Influences
Chris' main influence on guitar is Stevie Ray Vaughan, a close second is Jimi Hendrix. Beatles, Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Jaco Pastorious, Paco DeLucia, Sly and the Family Stone, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, James  Brown, Stevie Wonder, Jamiroquai, Yo-Yo Ma, Rachmoninoff, JS Bach, BB King… to name a few.
 
Chris on Music:
"Music and Art should never be a competition. If you wanna be a pop star, go sing on American Idol and all those crap shows and pray you'll be on MTV.  But, if you wanna be a consummate, respected musician, then lay-off the "make up" and expose your artful soul. The music is what gets my respect, not your boobs or chest-hair."-Chris
Ritchie Santoro Bass & Vocals
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Rich is a man who truly digs the present moment and the ever-evolving nature of the bands song repertoire. You can see his enthusiasm when he plays out live, and he will tell you that he very much enjoys playing the original tunes as well as covers that make you want to groove with the energy of the night… creating a moment given to THAT night, THAT live show, and THAT song Rich is digging.

Like many members of the band, Rich writes original music. The first song he introduced to the band was “Riding On A Greyhound”… a super fun, makes you want to get up and boogie kind of tune. It’s very reminiscent of a 50’s Bopper meets 70’s Smoothe Groove.
 
​Rich, who had joined Monsoon Groove in the spring of 2015, has been in many local Long Island bands over the years such as: Dead Man’s Ghost and Rising Tide.

In 2017- Richard Price, Tiffany Lake and Mike O'Rourke (Soundswell) created an originals studio recording project: Mindful Motif.

  • Equipment
Geddy Lee Fender Jazz Bass  
Washburn AB 10 Acoustic Bass 
Galian Krueger Backline 600
David Eden 2 X 10 / 4 X 10
AMPEG 1 X 15

  • Influences
Grateful Dead, Beatles, CSNY, Frank Zappa.
Tiffany Lake Vocals & Dance
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Also known as Band Aide, Tiffany Lake is best known for her many years of music promotions, merchandising, and street team. It was only recently that she began to take the stage herself. Tiffany has toured as Merchandise Crew with: Bob Weir & Ratdog, Ryan Montbleau Band, Zach Deputy, Reckoning, U-Melt, and The 50th Anniversary Tour of The Furthur Bus.

When Tiffany first started singing professionally in 2013, a few of her musician friends immediately took her under their wing. They taught her how to sing with others, how to choose and learn her parts on songs, and threw her on the stage. She performed a bunch of gigs with Hypnosmoothie, recorded a few songs for Last Renaissance, and then appeared at Strangecreek Music Festival, onstage with Max Creek-singing “Lawyers, Guns, and Money”.

Shortly after all of this, she began to write. After studying song structure and harmonies, the lyrics just flowed out in a way she never knew she could do. She has written more than a few albums worth of songs and is excited to show them to the world. Tiffany likes to say she is a product of her surroundings.

In 2014, just after joining Monsoon Groove, Tiffany went on tour with the Merry Pranksters and the 50th Anniversary of The Furthur Bus. They paraded along the road in the famous psychedelic bus, jamming and meeting up with occasional guest passengers: John Kadlecik, Sam Cutler (Manager of the Rolling Stones), Wavy Gravy, Peter Shapiro, Alex and Allyson Grey, Zach Deputy, Cabinet, and many many more, as they traveled from events to festivals and every kind of party in between. They had an opportunity to receive a few “Circle Singing” lessons from Sunshine Garcia Becker, of Furthur-The Band. The movie they had made on that tour is called “Going Furthur”.

In 2017- Tiffany,  Richard Price, and Mike O'Rourke (Soundswell) created an originals studio recording project: Mindful Motif.

  • Equipment
SM58

Telefunken M-80 Dynamic-Custom Grateful Dead Family-Limited Edition Hand dipped Tie Dye Mic

  • Influences
The 50's, 60's, and 70's, Bob Weir, Ryan Montbleau, Reckoning, Wormtown Music Festivals, Gathering Of The Vibes Festival, Susan Tedeschi, Sunshine Garcia Becker, the Jukebox in the living room, chorus classes and plays in school and "that diddy I just can't get out of my head".

Let's not forget "all the events, festivals, venues, artists, bands, hands, merch, promo, sound, stage, lights, managers, crew, door, gate, Ops, first aid, security, visual and creative teams, organizers, radio, cooks, volunteers, street teamers, other Band Aide's and any one else who has taught me music life until music was my life". -Band Aide

Tiff-
"It’s never to late to live out your dream. After all, we are always further evolving into our true selves. Aging is a lesson I cannot afford to lose".
~Tiffany's Internet Pages~
Tony Randone Drums
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Antonio "Tony" Randone born April 15, 1968 Oceanside California, current drummer for original Jam Band "Monsoon Groove" May 2018 to present.
 
Favorite Genres: Funk/Rock; Classic Rock; Contemporary Jazz

Middle child of three, in his earliest memories, about the age of 7 in the 70's living in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn N.Y. at a time where rock and roll was breaking trends, Tony loved watching the hippies in his neighborhood set up their music gear in the middle of the street at block party events and listen to them jam. He particularly enjoyed the heart pounding, foot moving rhythms of the drums. The intrigue of live music for Tony was so captivating and mysterious that from then on decided this is where he wanted to be, right at the center of this complex of sound and rhythm and whose purpose he decided early on, was to be part of this moving spirit we know as music.
 
Tony has been studying particularly the origins and structure of 3rd time, which is the predominant time signature in Afro-Cuban music. However, Rock and Roll is always the primary influence.
  
Music and playing drums has been central to Tony's life for as long as he can remember.  Always looking to improve his skills and playing style, he likes to seek advice and observe the techniques of other fellow drummers on the local live gig circuit on Long Island, which is full of talented musicians by their own right. 
 
  • Influences
    All accomplished drummers and bands 

Tony's personal theory to great musicianship is:

"First, love music as if it were part of your soul and second, learn your instrument as if it were your spouse".   
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