JamesGraff
CONTACT

SEEKING

Band to Join, Accordion, Acoustic Guitar, Background Singer, Bagpipes, Banjo, Bass Guitar, Cello, Clarinet, DJ, Dobro, Drums, Electronic Music, Fiddle, Flute, Harmonica, Harp, Keyboard, Lead Guitar, Mandolin, Other, Other Percussion, Piano, Rhythm Guitar, Saxophone, Steel guitar, Trombone, Trumpet, Ukulele, Upright bass, Violin, Vocalist, Vocalist - Alto, Vocalist - Baritone, Vocalist - Bass, Vocalist - Soprano, Vocalist - Tenor.

ABOUT

"If you were to dedicate the rest of your life to easing suffering in the world - now and into the future - what would you do? How would you do it?"

"By far, the most multi-talented performer I have ever worked with...any stage or studio..." (????)

- Kirk Kelsey - Three time Grammy award winning producer, audio/sound FOH
engineer for Keith Urban, Smashing Pumpkins, Creed, 3 Doors Down, etc.

"The most talented musician I have ever seen...on any stage in the world...or even heard of!!!...I've never even HEARD of anyone like that...plays EVERY instrument well....??"

- Pat Rizzo - Tenor Saxophone for Frank Sinatra, War, Sly and the Family Stone,
Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, etc.

“He’s the best guitar player in New Jersey...” (????)
- Anonymous but unshakeable supporter
(“??? Thanks!! Way, way too kind but...No way!!!”)

“Everyone give it up for the best harmonica player in New Jersey...”(????)
- Dave Nahan - Singer, bass/guitar player
(“...Again, Thanks!!...too kind...but...NO!!...”)

“Dear James, you are the most talented musician I've met. (Lionel Hampton #2, for perspective.)
Sincerely,
Reen”
- Reen Long - Stage Manager

“Global warming, malaria, land mines, starvation, drought, AIDS, hepatitis, war, peak oil, asteroids, pandemics, avian flu, cancer, mental illness, (diamonds, chocolate, prostitution...) slavery, kidnapping, torture, censorship, Amnesty International, U.N., W.H.O., C.D.C., Red Cross, Peace Corp, Doctors without Borders, I.M.F., UNICEF, O X F A M(!!), animal rights, spirituality, charity....????”

"Help the hopeless, the helpless and the health-less!!!"

James Graff

Musical genius or musical slu+? (or narcissistic, reclusive, newTuber junkie!!): "I will play ANY instrument, in ANY STYLE, with any one, for any amount of money - (to go entirely to charity!)"

ALL & ANY INSTRUMENTS! Keys, ALL stringed/bowed, ALL woodwinds, ALL brass, ALL percussion...

100+ ORIGINALS,

400+ request list: CLASSICAL, BAROQUE, JAZZ, RAGTIME, POP, BLUES, ROCK, REGGAE, FUNK, COUNTRY, DISCO, HARD ROCK, METAL, PUNK AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN!

James Graff has recently settled down with his wife and two boys...just before that he had been touring Europe with the opening, warm up act for WASP:

“ The last PRO gig I had was with
HOUSE OF GAMES s:///tags/house%20of%20games

singing all the higher back-up vocals (“hitting” a high C every night?!? I have plenty of live recordings!) and playing multiple keyboards in multiple time signatures and multiple rhythms in each hand (I had to learn ALL the parts WITHOUT any instrument -totally absurd-by transcribing them onto plain paper on the airplane from New York to Europe!! )

ONE audition/rehearsal and then immediately touring...opening for the

WASP WORLD DOMINATOR TOUR...(I got to hear the live recording -only once...copyrights- of when we auditioned for Road Runner Records while being broadcast LIVE over the radio to over 50,000 listeners!!)”

HOUSE OF GAMES CD was produced by Kevin (Caveman) Shirley (AEROSMITH, DREAM THEATER, IRON MAIDEN, RUSH, etc.) in Bennett Studios. Tracks were mastered at Masterdisk Studio in NYC by Howie Weinberg.


James Graff writes, arranges, engineers, produces, sings and

SINGS AND PLAYS ALL/ANY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS!!

SANG AND PLAYED MULTIPLE INSTRUMENTS ON
5 CONTINENTS IN
40+ COUNTRIES
IN FRONT OF TENS OF THOUSANDS
IN BANDS WITH MEMBERS FROM MANY
INTERNATIONALLY FAMOUS (Am I??....NO!!),
"HALL OF FAME",
MULTIPLE BILLBOARD CHARTING,
MULTIPLE GRAMMY AWARD WINNING,
MULTI-PLATINUM ACTS:

Marilyn Manson ("Sweet Dreams", "The Beautiful People"...)
The Frank Sinatra Orchestra ("My Way", "New York, NY", “Summer Wind”...)
Clarence Clemons and the Red Bank Rockers (“Women's Got the Power”, “Savin Up”, “You're a Friend of Mine”)
Allman Brothers Band (“Whippin Post”, “Melissa”, “Ramblin’ Man”, “One Way Out”, “Southbound”, “Midnight Rider”...)
Extreme ("More Than Words", "Get the Funk Out")
Creed ("Higher", "One")
Steve Vai ("For the Love of God", "The Audience is Listening", "Bad Horsie", soundtrack and "cameo" for movie "Crossroads")
Steve Morse Band/Dixie Dregs ("Tumeni Notes", "Highland Wedding", "Dixie"...)
Dream Theatre, ("Pull Me Under")
The Classics IV ("Spooky", "Stormy", "Traces of Love")
Little Steven & the Disciples of Souls (“Voice of America”)
Gary U.S. Bonds (“Quarter to Three”, “This Little Girl”)
Garry Tallent
Hanu Leiden
J.T. Bowen
Jersey Artists for Mankind
The Platters ("The Great Pretender", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Only You", "Unchained Melody"...)
Expose ("Seasons Change", "Point of No Return"...)
Linear ("Sending All My Love"...)
Jeff Scott Soto (Singer for Alcatraz/Yngwie Malmsteen, Journey, Foreigner, movie "Rock Star"...)
Bertie Higgins ("Sailing Away to Key Largo"...)
Gloria Estefan & the Miami Sound Machine ("Turn The Beat Around", "Conga", "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You"...)
Dion ( "Runaround Sue," "The Wanderer," "Ruby Baby," and "Lovers Who Wander", etc.)
and MANY more...

OPENING UP FOR:

Marilyn Manson, The Beach Boys, The Romantics, Jefferson Starship, Modern English, Quiet Riot, The Guess Who, Ted Nugent, Mountain, Molly Hatchet, Richie Havens, Ace Freely, Wasp, Dave Barry, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Dennis Yost (Classics IV), Steinhardt Moon Project (Kansas), Marty Balin (Jefferson Starship), Melanie, Bertie Higgins, Arlo Guthrie, Kathleen Madigan, Saigon Kick, War and MANY, MANY more...

"I sang/fronted, played lead guitar and keys in Motor":
Voted Best Cover Band in south Florida AND
Voted Second Best Original Band in South Florida by readers of XS Magazine (circulation 8 million)
Produced 3 original CDs (produced by 3 time GRAMMY AWARD winning producer/sound engineer Kirk Kelsey.)

"I also fronted (sang lead), played lead guitar and keys for 'The Mad Hatters'"
(Now just "The Hatters" - produced and tour supported several albums on Atlantic Records)
"I lost touch with them until - one day - I rediscover my old friends - featured in Guitar for the Practicing Musician magazine! Nice!"
://graffjamie.blip.tv/
://picasaweb.google/graffjamie

"I gave one of the graduation speeches at Mountz Grammer School, Spring Lake, NJ, (except mine was a scathing rebuke to all the adults who had completely screwed up the environment and world politics for my generation to try and fix)."

"I was president of my class at Manasquan High School, NJ where I:
...wrote, arranged, sang lead, played piano and lead guitar on an album we recorded my freshman year...
...acted and sang lead in all different sorts of events - rock concerts, choir concerts, musicals and plays...
...I was accepted into the "Acappela Choir", "Mary's Canarys" (came in 2nd in State Competitions) and the "All State NJ Choir" .

Manasquan is where I started learning audio engineering, record producing, electronic music, electronic keyboard/synthesizer keyboard sound production and editing, music theory/composition/arranging, music history, etc."
---
In regards to his two Summa Cum Laude bachelors degrees - Systems engineering and Finance from "snooty, snobby Ivy League" U. Penn - Wharton: "I wouldn't work if you paid me!"
---
THE 5th MOST VIEWED MUSICIAN IN THE WORLD!!!
well over 7 MILLION -- video views!!
250,000+ "friends"
90,000+ channel views
3,000+ subscribers
135+ award winning, live concert and MTV style entertainment videos
35+ all original, self-produced music videos
I wrote, produced, engineered, sang and played every instrument on almost all of my recordings - they're really just demos-live is another story
://./JamesHGraff (Sorry! Deleted for copyright infringement)
://./graffajmie (Sorry! Also deleted...for copyright infringement)

"Fantastic!! This is really great!"
"I LOVE THIS...."
"that was amazing :)"
"Best thing I've seen on be!!!"
"You rule!!"
"Suuuuuuperb"
"Pure Geneious!" (sic)
"Wow! Awesome! absolutely killer"
"This guy is REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY Talented!"
"this guy is amazing! i've been watching his videos like all day. One of the most talented guys i've seen"
"vocals are unreal as others have said"
"he have the voice like bon scott ^^ love this :-)"
"Really great voice" .... "you've got a great voice"
"do you do any bon jovi covers,your voice is like jons"
"You rule man, that's a magic cover ;-) 5/5"
""F**K ME RUNNIN'".........this is the s**t"
"Wow! That's a great video! With great music too!"
"Great song! And the video is hilarious"
"Great song, vocal, instrumental....you do it all james!!!!"
"great song! :D" .... "great tune!" .... "cool song are there more?"
"Holy good God... That's insane... You are definitely one of the greatest "
"All of the positive comments here are well-justified. you are so awesome! :)"
"What amazing piano playing. Great singing too."
"Awesome playing and singing"
"You are so talented, it is amazing."
"definitely the best cover of this song i have EVER heard, i really give you props for that! EXCELLENT JOB!"
"awesome song... Omg the man rocks!"
"You are so talented, it is amazing. What an inspiration."
"simply the bee's knee's, top class"
"Absolutely fantastic cover. In some ways even better than the original. Keep it coming."
"Excellent cover, very very good job! Loved every second, covering Pink Floyd is a tough act. Well done!"
"Absolutely wonderful cover! EXCELLENT vocal work and BLAZING guitar! Absolutely outstanding! Did I mention it was very good?"
"awesome playing 1 of the best ive seen 5*"
"Somehow I find this as the best cover of "Comfortably Numb" all over be. Your voice is far beyond beliefs and I find it kind of funny; how you manage to do it so perfectly. I'm sure PF is, if they heard your cover, full of jealousy. I don't claim or state that your version is better than the original. But this cover is special, mayhap a masterpiece. I think I just fell in love with your art. Keep it up, you are good!"
"wow man that was f***ing perfect, while i was reading the comments i forgot this was a cover and i thought i was listening to the real song"
"Best cover i've seen by far!"
"whoa! that is by far the best cover of this song ive ever heard."
"You guys did the best cover of "Would" that ive ever heard..be it, internet or at the bar...awesome job..keep it going!!"
"Awesome...You guys are as good as I have heard also..Keep after it."
"this has got to be the best cover AC/DC ever!!"
"improvised piano playing
My name is Michael, I just watched a video of somebody playing the piano and I am guessing it was you who was playing the piano in the video. Its very inspiring and it blew my mind. I just had to say it was fantastic."
"U must b paying people 4 these comments."
(THOUSANDS of more comments on be!)

Screen name:
JamesGraff
Member since:
Oct 18 2019
Active within 24 hours
Level of commitment:
Touring
Years playing music:
50
Gigs played:
Over 100
Tend to practice:
More than 3 times per week
Available to gig:
6-7 nights a week

Influences

You name it!
Bach to Chopin to Joplin to Tatum to Parker to Coltraine to Zep to Beatles to Beck to Bonamassa to K.C. and the Sunshine Band to Commodores...

Instrument experience:

Vocalist:
Expert
Vocalist - Bass:
Expert
Vocalist - Baritone:
Expert
Rhythm Guitar:
Expert
Lead Guitar:
Expert
Acoustic Guitar:
Expert
Other Percussion:
Expert
Keyboard:
Expert
Piano:
Expert
Harmonica:
Expert
Steel guitar:
Advanced
Clarinet:
Advanced
Bass Guitar:
Advanced
Saxophone:
Advanced
Background Singer:
Advanced
Banjo:
Advanced
Mandolin:
Advanced
Cello:
Moderate
Accordion:
Moderate
DJ:
Moderate
Vocalist - Tenor:
Moderate
Drums:
Moderate
Violin:
Moderate
Flute:
Moderate
Fiddle:
Moderate
Trumpet:
Intermediate

EQUIPMENT

You name it!
Several Festival PAs with in ear and/or floor monitors for 8+ people
Lighting/light show
Nord Stage 76 key
Korg Triton 76 key
Yamaha SY99 76 key
Studio Logic controller 88 key
Roland D70 76 key
Marshal Silver Jubilee, 100/50 watt (Bonomassa toured with these)
Marshal 4x12 "Hendrix" oversized 1960A Cabinet
Marshall JCM 2000 (Jeff Beck tours with these)
Fractal AX8
1965 Fender Twin Reverb, JBLs
1970s Fender Super Twin, JBLs
Fender Pro Junior 10" 15 watt (Jeff Beck tours with these too)
90s Fender Prosonic
Woods 6 String Electric Violin/Viola/Cello in Sunburst Exotic Burl,
Michael Kelly Legacy FS Acoustic Electric Mandolin,
Gretsch Brian Setzer Nashville
1970 Gretsch BST 1000 "The Beast" Walnut, 2 Humbuckers
Yamaha AP90X Acoustic/Electric,
Takamine 12 String Acoustic/Electric,
10 String Argentinian Charanga,
Gibson Les Paul tiger stripe flame maple top,
'80s Gibson Custom,
Fender American Strat w/ Seymour Duncans Antiquity Texas Hot Pickups,
Deering Maple Blosom 5 String Banjo,
Frankenstrat (Exact duplicate of Steve Lukather's! '70s strat body, warmoth neck, coil tappable EMGs, Original Floyd Rose)
Fender Bass,
Ibanez Explorer (the one that Gibson sued them for and won!)
'94 Tom Anderson Drop Top Classic,
'54 Bundy Clarinet, Artly Clarinet,
'66 Selmer Mark VI Tenor Sax,
Bach Stradivarius Trumpet,
Pearl 775 Flute,
'66 Emmons D-10 Push-Pull Pedal Steel Guitar,
12 Hohner Golden Melody Harps,
12 Manji 10 Hole Diatonic Harmonicas,
Green Bullet Mic
Custom made Crystal Harmonica Mic
Hohner Super 64 Chormatic Harp,
Various, Authentic American Indian, Cuban, Peruvian, European Flutes and Rhythm Instruments..

MUSIC