To call Randy Tico a bassist touches on only part of his musical identity. Tico has gained a solid reputation as an inventive and versatile bassist, working with Flora Purim and Airto, Matrix, Strunz and Farah, John McEuen, Crosby Loggins, Joe Farrell, Scott Cossu and many others. Simultaneously, Tico has also extended his talents into the areas of composing for film--"Steal Big, Steal Little" directed by Andrew Davis (the Fugitive), "The Housekeeper" and "Joe's Gyro Palace" for the FX Network's Independent Film Series, episodes for the syndicated TV series "Freddy's Nightmares"--as well as original scores for theater, studio work and realizing his own ambitious multi-media pieces. Diverse as these projects might seem, it all relates to Tico's expansive musical overview and an adaptability to various creative assignments.
Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Tico took to music early, studying classical piano, guitar and bass. Out of school, he honed his wares in numerous local club bands, learning jazz, latin and rock techniques that he would later draw upon as the bassist for the internationally acclaimed jazz group Matrix. Tico's involvement with Matrix began in 1978, and included touring and three albums--"Wizard" and "Tale of the Whale" for Warner Brothers and "Harvest" for Pablo. Tico's distinctive, melodic bass style, incorporating unusual techniques with harmonics, was a cornerstone of the Matrix sound.
Tico met Flora Purim and Airto
in '81 and toured the globe and recorded many albums with the famous
Brazilian couple. Tico's involvement with the music of Brazil
continued (and continues) with artists such as Ivan Lins, Kleber Jorge
(singer w/ Sergio Mendes), Dori Caymmi, Cesar Camargo Mariano and
Teka. In addition, he recorded and toured with the Grammy award
winning, world music group "Strunz and Farah" and appeared with them
on the PBS television show "Sound Festival".
After returning to California from his Matrix stint in the early 80's, Tico began assembling large-scale multi-media projects for the annual Santa Barbara Arts Festivals. "Soundscapes", involving music, multiple-projector visuals, and dance, resulting in an album release on Inner Circle records, with Tico at the helm as performer, composer, and producer. The project was refined in subsequent years and evolved into the yet more elaborate "Vision Quest" and "The First People". He then served as music director for Santa Barbara's celebrated Summer Solstice Parades of '88 and 89 and followed that by producing, writing and directing trans-cultural, multi-media, festival concerts for the Solstice Evening Performances of '90-'95.
The album "Earth Dance", featuring original Tico compositions was released in '91 on Higher Octave Music (currently distributed worldwide by Virgin Records). Also in '91 The California Arts Council awarded him a grant for music composition.
Composing music and designing sound for theater is an area in which Tico has continued to be active. Critical Mass Performance Group's "Apollo", directed by Nancy Keystone, will receive its World Premier at the Kirk Douglas Theater in 2005. Working with the innovative director Nancy Keystone he has also scored "Dr. Faustus" by Marlowe, "The "Rover" by Aphra Behn and Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" (named one of the "10 Best" productions in the 1991 L.A. Reader). Tico and Keystone also collaborated on the "Akhmatova Project " which is a large-scale performance piece based on the life and writing of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. The "Akhmatova Project" was part of the 1998 A.S.K. Theater Project's Common Ground Festival and Getty Center Performance Series. The "Akhmatova Project" was named one of the "Top 10 productions of 2000" by the L.A. Times. "Antigone" ran for the month of March 2001 at the Portland Center Stage Theater and garnered Tico a Drammy for the music score.Tico has also scored "Kaethe Kollwitz: Through Her Heart", "Nevelson", "Mary Cassatt Speaks" and "Of Lies and Truth: Artemesia Gentileschi" all written and performed internationally by "One Woman Theater" artist Helena Hale.
Tico has joined percussionist Efrian Toro and Brazilian composer/keyboardist Rique Pantoja as instructors for educational seminars in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. He was also featured as guest artist/teacher at the Bozeman Bass Bash in Montana along with Brian Bromberg and Barry Green (author of "The Inner Game of Music"). In '98 the Bay Bass Band (founded by Barry Green) commissioned Tico to compose a new work for 5 acoustic basses and percussion. Other composers for the group include John Pattituci and Jimmy Haslip.
Besides composing and producing music for film, television, theater and multi-media projects, Tico continues to be utilized on recording sessions with composers and artists such as Sadao Wantanabe, Henry Butler, Ivan Lins, Willie & Lobo, John McEuen, Nicolas Pike and Peter Melnick. He was bassist on the 2001 PBS special: The Jeff Barry Show, with special guests Brian Wilson, Jeffery Osborne and Denise Williams.