Cameron Graves
Bio
A member of the game-changing, genre-blurring Los Angeles collective, the West Coast Get Down, pianist CAMERON GRAVES is taking the modern jazz scene by storm. Graves’ style was described by his fellow West Coast Get Down member, Kamasi Washington, as an “almost unbelievable combination of modal jazz, romantic era European classical music, and mathematical death metal.” Graves’ debut record on Mack Avenue Records, Planetary Prince, which also serves as Graves’ pseudonym, comes from The Urantia Book, a spiritual tome that emerged from Chicago in the first half of the 20th century and that purports to reveal the truth of humanity through a combination of spiritual and cosmological ideas, including radical retellings of familiar stories from the Bible. This release marked a seismic shift in the jazz landscape and the game-changing arrival of the genre-blurring Los Angeles collective West Coast Get Down blending elements of Jazz, Classical, Rock and Hip-Hop. The core of the band on Planetary Prince is made up of fellow West Coast Get Down members, whose musical and personal relationships with Graves stretch back to their high school days: tenor saxophonist Kamasi Washington, trombonist Ryan Porter, bassist Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner, and drummer Ronald Bruner Jr. To their ranks are added trumpeter Philip Dizack and bassist Hadrien Feraud, both key members of the groundbreaking modern L.A. jazz scene.
Cameron’s sophomore album on Mack Avenue, Seven, released in February of 2020, takes his musical vision to a new height, blending Jazz, Fusion, Rock and Metal. The result is a new and innovative sound that will change the public’s view of Jazz. Featuring guest performances by Stanley Clarke, Robben Ford and John “JR” Robinson on the Beatles cover, Getting Better, this Album firmly established Graves as a Jazz giant. The release was very warmly received by media around the world.
Graves was also a key member of actress/musician Jada Pinkett Smith's nu-metal band Wicked Wisdom, providing him an entrée into the world of film and television scoring through the Pinkett Smith-directed film The Human Contract and TV series Hawthorne. Through his soundtrack work, Graves connected with legendary bassist and fellow label mate, Stanley Clarke, and is now a member of his latest band, touring internationally. Cameron wrote several songs and performed on Stanley’s latest release, The Message, and has performed internationally with the Stanley Clarke Band. Cameron has also performed and recorded on albums for Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Dr. Dre and Miles Mosley.
