James Graff

"I am a musical slut: I will play ANY INSTRUMENT, in ANY STYLE, with ANY one for ANY amount of money - to go completely to charity!!" ALL INSTRUMENTS! BAROQUE, CLASSICAL, ROMANTIC, RAGTIME, STRIDE, DIXIELAND, SWING, BEBOP, BLUEGRASS, FOLK, COUNTRY, BLUES, ROCK, METAL, REGGAE, DISCO, FUNK, POP AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN!

I have sang and played in front of tens of thousands of people in bands with memebers from:

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, Steinhardt Moon Project (Kansas), Marty Balin (Jefferson Starship), Melanie, Arlo Guthrie, Kathleen Madigan, Saigon Kick, and MANY, MANY more...

I write, sing, produce, and perform. I just finished touring Europe, playing in HOUSE OF GAMES opening up for Wasp on their World Dominator Tour 2006/2007 but here is how it all started: I have been playing keys since I was 3 years old, woodwinds since I was 8 (they showed my a bunch of instruments and I picked the badest, coolest one: the long ALL BLACK one with SILVER METAL on it - a CLARINET!!! - and I ended up getting out of class to study music in a room full of "chicks" - I was the only boy!!! BONUS!!! - and all that clarinet study led to the later discovery of my ability to play the Sexyphone ...and flute (Jethro Tull!!)...so...). I started to play guitar at about 10 when my brother threw his new acoustic guitar down saying - as he did of eveything: "This SUCKS!!" (Later he and my other brother got jealous - i.e. fed up with my incessant practicing they ended up smashing the guitar to itty, bitty pieces - with a loud: "El Kabong!!!")

Now I play: lead/slide guitar, banjo, mandolin, pedal steel, 6 string electric violin/viola/cello, flute, clarinet, alto and tenor sax, blues harp, bass, drums/percussion, charanga, etc.

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 recorded an album and sang, played piano and guitar, and acted at all different sort of events - rock concerts, choir concerts, musicals and plays - I was accepted into the "Acappela Choir", "Mary's Canarys" and the "All State NJ Choir" (I was the very lowest audition score). I studied both Finance at the Wharton School of Business (which is consistently rated the best business school in the world) and Systems Engineering at the Moore School of Engineering (where they invented the 1st computer) all at the "Ivy League" University of Pennsylvania, Philadelpia, PA. I was born in Manhattan, New York City, NY lived in Spring Lake, NJ, for 35 years, Boca Raton, FL for ten years and Tallinn, Estonia for three years and Tartu, Estonia for 6 years!
So there I was performing one of the greatst songs of all time: Don McLean's "American Pie"! I played to about 500 of my high school classmates--older and younger--about one forth of the whole school! A very, very hard and unnerving thing to do--at 15 years of age! So while I was singing "American Pie" the "butterflies in my stomach" started to get serioud and because I was so nervous I literally started to choke! I was gagging and--for a split second--I stopped singing because I couldn't! I was just about to blow chunks--throw up--spew soup--all over the stage and maybe some of my classmates... I had already written and recorded one of my very first songs called "Never Goin' Back". I sang, played piano, rhythm and lead guitar on "Never Goin' Back". We called our band "The Runaways" which--unbeknownst to us--was already the name of an all girl band with Joan Jett singing and playing guitar. "Never Goin' Back" was released in the states on a vinyl lp record called "Manasquan Rock on Record".

Anyway...back to the story... I was about to choke and lose my cookies in front of and onto all of my peers! But I didn't!!! And that very moment irrevocably changed my whole life ...forever! A very close call because when I did finish the song I got a standing ovation and an encore--an extremely rare thing in the states! After the concert, Mr. Lees--the principal in charge of discipline--told me that I reminded him of Woodstock and asked me where I was playing next because he wanted to come see me play again.

Later my English teacher found a joint in my jacket. I told Mr. Lees: "Someone had left the jacket at my party last Saturday night." (one of the many parties me and my brothers where notorious for thowing) "The only way to figure out whose jacket it was--was to actually wear this persons--kind of cheesy--jacket around school and see who claimed it. And then hope it didn't belong to some huge jerk who thinks that I tried to steal his jacket and try to beat me up for it!" So because that half of my story was actually true (the joint might have been mine) and a lot of people could coraborate my "lost and found" jacket technique (which was also why I never actually got beaten up-like I said our parties were kind of notorious) and because Mr. Lees thought that my deed was a pretty ballsy and couragous thing to do (and because Mr. Less was a little notorious himself for being a "smoker") he let me go. Of course he "confiscated" the joint and told me that he could get in a lot of trouble for not reporting this to the police--in other words: he would have to burn the evidence himself!!

So, to make a long story a little shorter: after many "campaign" parties--we were basically running a highly profitable "speakeasy" bar, with live music, out of my basement--and becoming president of my class, I decided not to pursue politics or medicine (remember my weak stomach!)--in spite of being accepted to one of the most prestigious Ivy league universities in the world--I decided to drop out and, instead, make rock and roll my living and my lifestyle. All because I didn't throw up that night (imagine what would have happened to me if I did!!) The only thing I learned at my ivy league university - studying Finance at Wharton and Systems Engineering at the Moore School - is that: 1. I never want to work a day in my life and 2. I wouldn't work if you paid me!! The rest is...

HISTORY:
I have: ====
PLAYED TO OVER 5000 PEOPLE AT:
MIAMI AMPHITHEATRE, THE DAVIE ARENA, THE WEST PALM BEACH AUDITORIUM, HURRICANE ANDREW RELIEF CONCERT, THE LYRIC THEATRE, LITTLE WOODSTOCK II, HOLIDAY ISLE TIKI BAR, BAR ANTICIPATION, THE BUTTON SOUTH, etc-----
PLAYED WITH:
-----MOTOR Voted Best Hard Rock Band and Nominated for Best Cover Band in Florida (Population 16 million) by XS Magazine Readers, CD “Screaming Bloody Motor” Sold thousands of copies, Videos for the singles “Reptile” and “Pedal to the Metal” are still being played on cable television all across Florida and received airplay in the US and Europe
-----Kirk Kelsy-producer/live sound engineer for
CREED: “Arms Wide Open”, “Higher”
-----Kenny-A.K.A. "GINGER FISH" Drummer for
MARYLIN MANSON: “Sweet Dreams”, ”The Beautiful People”, “The Dope Show”
-----Mike Mangini-Drummer for
STEVE VAI, ANNIHILATOR, "World's Fastest Drummer" - Mike holds five Guiness World Book of Records
-----“Drum” Phil-Producer/live sound engineer for
THE STEVE MORSE BAND
-----Lead Saxophone Player for
FRANK SINATRA (I don’t remember his name but he was the best horn player I have EVER heard!)
-----Dennis Yost-Singer/Songwriter for
THE CLASSICS IV: “Spooky”, “Stormy”, “Traces of Love”
-----BERTIE HIGGINS: World-wide Smash Hits “Sailing Away to Key Largo”, “Casablanca”: Key Largo blew a hole in the U.S. charts. When it reached number one in the nation, the world took notice and it went on to become an international hit. Other hit singles followed like Just Another Day in P aradise, Casablanca and Pirates and Poets. Casablanca became song of the year in all of the pacific rim and the album hit double platinum. Bertie Higgins became an international recording star literally overnight. He is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon.
-----THE HATTERS signed to Atlantic Records with Adam Hirsh and Adam Evans with special guest Blues Traveler's John Popper
-----Lori Miller-Singer/Dancer for EXPOSÉ: Top 10 Hit “Seasons Change”
----Jamie “King” Colton-Singer/Song Writer, Saxophone/Keyboard/Guitar Player: Recorded and toured with DION and wrote the Top 40 Hit“Here Comes The Judge”
----Robbin Fox: “I See Stars”-----
----"Drum Man" Nat Barouch [http://www.drumman.com] multitalented songwriter/singer/drummer (and website designer) for Nobody's Fault, Mad Hatters, Signal Zero, Higher Ground, Rockstreet, etc.
----Gary Schutt [www.garyschutt.com]--songwriter/ virtuoso--working with Jeff Scott Soto[www.jeffscottsoto.com] who was the real "voice" on the soundtrack of the movie "Rock Star" (My Brothers Nickname for me)

OPENED UP FOR:
-----THE BEACH BOYS: “Surfin’ USA”, “Kokomo”, Etc.
-----TED NUGENT:”Cat Scratch Fever”Etc. -----THE ROMANTICS: “What I Like About You”, Etc.
-----THE GUESS WHO-“American Woman”, Etc.
-----JEFFERSON STARSHIP: “Jane”, Etc.
-----MARTY BALIN FROM JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: “Don’t You Need Somebody to Love”, Etc.
-----ACE FREHLY KISS: “(I Wanna) Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night”, Etc.
-----QUIET RIOT: “Cum On Feel the Noise”, Etc.
-----MODERN ENGLISH: “Melt With You”
-----ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION: “Imaginary Lover”
-----MOLLY HATCHET: “Flirtin’ with Disaster”,
-----MOUNTAIN: “Mississippi Queen”, Etc.
-----STEINHARDT/MOON PROJECT KANSAS: “Dust in the Wind”
-----WASP: " I Wanna Be Some Body", "Animal (F*&% Like a Beast)" .... my band HOUSE OF GAMES is the official support band for WASP's 2006/2007 WORLD DOMINATOR TOUR
-----AT WOODSTOCK II in Florida:
-----JANIS JOPLIN`S BAND THE HOLDING COMPANY: “Me and Bobby Magee”, Etc. and
-----RICHIE HAVENS: “Freedom”, Etc. and
-----THE DIXIE ALLSTARS including members from BLACKFOOT, MOUNTAIN, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, ALLMAN BROTHERS
------SAIGON KICK: "Love Is On the Way"
------At the HURICANE ANDREW RELIEF CONCERT in the West Palm Beach Auditorium (We helped reaise millions of dollars and met Lawton Chiles the Governor of Florida and more importantly Mrs. Florida!!):
-----ARLO GUTHRIE: “This Land Is Your Land”, “Alice’s Restaurant”
-----MELANIE: “I’ve Got A Brand New Pair Of Roller Skates”
-----THE MONKIES: “I’m a Believer”, Etc.
-----Comedian KATHLEEN MADIGAN from Saturday Night Live AND
-----DAVE BARRY: World famous Comedian, columnist, and best-selling author and film screenplay writer-He wrote BIG TROUBE-, etc.------

------ NUNO BETTENCORT ("Flight of the Wounded Bumble Bee") is my friend and old drummer Phil Giantsidis cousin through marrige: NUNO - with EXTREME ("Get the Funk Out") - has played with Jeff Scott Soto (who played with my bandmate Gary Schutt) and Mike Mangini (friend from So. Fl.)---it's a small world after all!! Doug Blair - guitarist/vocalist for WASP 2006/2007 WORLD DOMINATOR TOUR (opening act, our band: HOUSE OF GAMES) - and for Signal2Noise: "Guitarcross" and drums DUO - Doug invented the "Guitarcross": a 8 string guitar and bass in one (5 string guitar, 3 string bass) - used to open up for EXTREME before they were signed - he was there the night they were signed!

------ Jim Hamilton (http://www.hamiltone.com/hamilto used to work on all 15 of my guitars - he built the guitar - with STEVIE RAY VAUGHN'S signature inlayed into the fretboard - for VAUGHN that is featured in his "Cold Shot" video

------ Tim Karcher - my cousin from Sayreville - owns the studio where BON JOVI's "SLIPPERY WHEN WET" album/cd was mastered!!

------ Jon Hochberg - my cousin through marriage - has been Jon Bon Jovi's personal physician for years: It is rumored that one time Jon Bon Jovi - returning from a tour of Japan - came into Jon Hochberg's office utterly dismayed, saying that his career was over - that everyone that was depending on him - the band, the label - would be completely let down: he had completely and permanently lost his voice - Jon Bon Jovi could no longer sing anymore. Doc "Hoch" said: "Don't sweat it...it's only syphillis..." gave him and the rest of the band a shot and...."Love is just a SOCIAL DISEASE..." and "BAD MEDICINE" were later recorded and dedicated to "DOC HOCH"!!!

------ Ellen Hochberg - my cousin married to Jon Hochberg - is a senator in NJ.

------ Allan Karcher - my uncle - ran for governor of NJ and served as the speaker of the house of NJ.

------ Harry Graff - my father - ran Harry Graff Inc. a highly successful advertising company on Madison Ave: He developed the central hub shipping system for FED EX - now used by virtually every shipping company in the world!! Produced all of the "It's sure cold outside...but inside Jack La Lane..." and "This is what ten pounds of fat looks like..." television comercials (he was good friends with Jack La Lane - one of my personal heros:"If man made it: DON'T EAT IT!!" He also wrote a novel about his vast experiences in CUBA before and after - and involved with - the Fidel Castro regime. He was also friends with various Manhattan cognocenti...like Norman Mailer...He also published GROUP TRAVEL a travel industry trade magazine, and MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES - an expensive newsletter helping business to save and make more money - while my father was in "retirement". When he was in WWII, he was given the mission of commandeering and delivering a French ship from the European theatre to the Pacific theatre. (Oui, oui...not an easy task!!)

------ Evelyn Graff - my mother - saved countless lives - and sanities - from her unparralleled efforts as the head of her AA chapter!! (Several of my own friends tribute their still being alive soley to her efforts on their bahalf!) She also served in numerous other charities at the same time.