Brazilian Bassist Amanda Ruzza makes waves in the States

BOSTON, MA. (www.actsnashville.com) - Brazilian bassist, Amanda Ruzza, is making her mark in the United States. Currently performing with the country rock band, Mustang Sally, Ruzza brings an innovative style, and influences from latin, jazz, funk, r&b, hiphop, to the stage. Ruzza, one of very few women bass players to crack the gender based "glass ceiling," has been playing professionally since she was thirteen. She practiced up to ten hours a day for many years, but the time turned out to be well-spent.
Ruzza recorded top chart records for airplay in Brazil, worked with the famous Maestro Jobam, and produced tracks for SONY Japan all while she was still a teen. This young woman, now just 24, has been named one of the top twelve women bass players in the world in a Latin-based magazine.
Heady stuff for a musician of any age. But a scholarship to the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston brought this young protege to the United States and she hasn't looked back.
While she loved the musical environment at Berklee, the lure of performing nationwide with an all-girl band was very enticing, so Ruzza left college for Nashville and and endless series of road trips and concerts. And she can't be happier.
"I love playing live. I love seeing smiles on the faces of people we are performing for," says Ruzza. "Every show is different and every time I play a song I discover something new about it."

But Ruzza is not limiting her talents to the stage. She currently is an in-demand session musician for Nashville studios, and will soon be heading into the studio to work on a CD for Mustang Sally.
With time on the road, time in the studio, and time spent fielding projects from a number of studio and concert producers, Ruzza does not have much free time, and that is OK with her.
"I'm here for the music," she says. "It's what I'm about."