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Richard Viard
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Out of 32 votes - Similar Artists: Ronnie Jordan, Deep Forest, George Benson, Scott Henderson
Out of 32 votes
- Location: Walpole, Massachusetts, United States
- Genre: Jazz » Acid Jazz
Editor's review
Guitarist Richard Viard joins searing acid-jazz axework with world music atmospheres, conjuring an alternate universe that's instantly enthralling. With his combination of impressive technical skill and eccentric electro-prog effect-work, it's not surprising that the Berklee-bred Viard has also found success as a film score composer.
Biography
At age 9, Richard asked for a guitar for Christmas. Since then, he was rarely seen without one. Dropped out of high school to join a band and study music professionally at the Versailles Conservatory, CIM, and University of Saint Denis in France, then at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
After attending Berklee, Richard played in an R&B band called Montage which gigged around New England. He also composed and recorded music for commercial and industrial films, including the Emmy Award winner "Filmworks".
Joined Dr. Ts Music Software in the late 80s as a tech consultant where he met Jeff Pucci with whom he later founded Virtual Entertainment, an educational CD-ROM publishing house, which became SmarterKids.com in 1994. SmarterKids.com went public in 1999 and Richard realised it had been a long time since playing music had been on the radar. It was time to dust off the gear and get back into the studio.
These songs are rough sketches of things I wanted to play at the moment they were recorded. Sort of a spontaneous burst of inspiration quickly captured. I did not spend much time on recording quality, mixing, etc. Most songs were recorded in one or two sessions.
