Band Members
Joseph Valenti Guitar & Vocals
Picture
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
Picture
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
Picture
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
Picture
Tiffany Lake is continually working on getting her original songs (over 50) produced and released in the hopes of gaining the attention of Music Placement Specialists and Synchronization Agents. She aims to license her songs to TV, Radio, and other opportunities for a big star, or the next big star. Since the pandemic, she has decided to put up all the demos, live full band shows, Facebook live quarantine videos, even a few A Capella demos.

Disabled with Lupus, it took her 23 years to get diagnosed. She wrote these songs with seizure brain after 15 years touring with bands as Merchandise Crew. Now properly diagnosed and seizure free, her goal is to buy her family a house.

Also known as Band Aide. Tiffany is best known for her many years of Music Promotions, Merchandising, and Street Team. It was only in 2014 that she began to take to the stage herself.

Band Aide has toured as Merchandise Crew for:
Bob Weir & Ratdog, Ryan Montbleau Band, Zach Deputy, Reckoning, U-Melt, The 50th Anniversary Furthur Bus Trip of 2014, and more. She has street teamed and promoted for various bands, festivals, events, venues and radio stations across the country and at home in Long Island, New York. She created "Our Scene E-Zine" to promote local band events, and helped coordinate a benefit event for WPKN Radio.

After many years of experiencing the inner workings of the music industry and being around some of the best musicians, places, and people that help make the show go on, Tiffany began to sing professionally after one of the local bands had asked her to sing with them.

Almost immediately, a bunch of her musician friends took her under their wing. They quickly taught her how to sing with others, how to choose and learn her parts on songs, and threw her on the stage. Her friends at Telefunken swiftly mailed out a limited edition hand dipped tie-dye microphone, custom made for The Grateful Dead and family. She performed a few gigs with a local band, recorded some song parts for a project, and then appeared at Strangecreek Music Festival singing with Max Creek.
 
Tiffany soon joined Monsoon Groove.  A Long Island, NY Jam Rock band playing covers and original tunes. With 4 writers in the band, Monsoon Groove has a unique style and always puts a new improvisational groove into their covers and originals.

Tiffany Lake began to write songs after studying song structure and harmonies to be able to perform. The lyrics (with their melodies) flowed out in a way in which she never knew she could do. She started writing jam songs with the band but soon realized she had a sometimes very emotional pop/dance style she likes to write in.

Later in 2014, Tiffany went on tour with The Merry Pranksters and the 50th Anniversary of The Furthur Bus.
She filled out a series of applications and won  “A Golden Ticket”… to what turned into a summer as crew on the bus tour while they filmed a documentary. They paraded along the road in and on top of the famous psychedelic bus, jamming and meeting up with occasional guest passengers: John Kadlecik, Sam Cutler, Wavy Gravy, Peter Shapiro, Alex and Allyson Grey, Zach Deputy, Cabinet, and many more, as they traveled from events to festivals and every kind of party in between. They attended a few “Circle Singing” vocal sessions from Sunshine Garcia Becker, of Furthur-The Band. They took to the stage occasionally on the tour over the summer while they had the chance, such as at the Woodstock Anniversary Gathering of 2014 at Yasgur’s Farm. The movie they had made on that tour is called “Going Furthur” and has yet to be officially released.
 
Monsoon Groove has been swirling their way around the island and has enjoyed their monthly residency at Fadeley's Pub. Recently they made a Demo out of an intimate live show at Micheal Braceland Art Gallery, they debuted 4 brand new originals, and were slated to appear live at WUSB Radio for the 4th time, until the pandemic halted everything.
 
Mindful Motif  is an original studio recording trio project created to record "Still You Smile" which was released on all major platforms in May 2020.
 
Band Aide is mostly retired, but Tiffany still looks forward to the Wormtown & Strangecreek Music Festivals (she won a golden ticket there too, for her many years of service) and she has been helping run Jeff King’s-The Spirit Elevators Open Jam Stage that goes every night of the festival from 11pm until sunrise.


~Influences~
Music of the 50's, 60's, and 70's, Bob Weir, The Jam Scene, 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 ditty I just can't get out of my head".

Let's not forget...
All the events, festivals, venues, artists, bands, hands, merchandising, promoters, sound, stage, lights & Visuals, 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.
~Tiffany's Internet Pages~
Tony Randone Drums
Picture
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".   
Proudly powered by Weebly