James Graham
uk flag
Bristol, UK
next session(S)
Languages
English
main genres
Pop
Funk
Folk
Songwriter
Soul
Blues
Rock
Film Score
Jazz
instruments
Wurlitzer
Hammond
Upright Piano
Nord Stage 2
vocal range
James is a world-class British pianist, having headlined the Montreal Jazz Festival and reaching Grammy-nominating status after collaborating with Jay-Z.

With over 10 years professional experience, James Graham is a Pianist, composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He has toured extensively worldwide for many years and in that time he has composed several studio albums, most notably for the internationally acclaimed soul singer Hannah Williams. In 2017 they reached Grammy-nominating status after collaborating with Hip-Hop heavyweight ‘Jay-Z’. Some of his career highlights include headlining the Montreal Jazz Festival, securing a residency at The Blue Note in Tokyo and performing alongside artists such as Pete Rock, Anderson Paak, Charles Bradley and David Byrne.James’ musical style is diverse. He is experienced in Soul, Jazz, Rock and Pop and has an innate skill in improvisation, yet his musical upbringing lies in the classical sphere, where from a young age he composed works for the piano. He specialises in vintage instrumentation - he can record Hammond organ, Wurlitzer and Upright Piano, is comfortable using synth patches with his Nord Stage 2, and can help with arrangement and production. He prefers working from charts or lead sheets.

instruments
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WOODWINDS

1 Flute, 1 Oboe, 1 Bb Clarinet, 1 Bassoon

BRASS

2 French Horns, 2 Bb Trumpets, 1 Tenor Trombone, 1 Bass Trombone

STRINGS

1 Harp, 5 Violins I, 4 Violins II, 4 Violas, 4 Violoncellos, 1 Contrabass (includes C extension)

PERCUSSION (1 PERCUSSIONIST)

Timpani, Snare Drum, Suspended Cymbal, Crash Cymbal, Triangle, Tambourine, Woodblock, others including mallets

5 Violins I, 5 Violins II, 5 Violas, 4 Celli, 3 Contrabasses (includes C extension)

Notes
.............................................................................
instruments
.............................................................

WOODWINDS

1 Flute, 1 Oboe, 1 Bb Clarinet, 1 Bassoon

BRASS

2 French Horns, 2 Bb Trumpets, 1 Tenor Trombone, 1 Bass Trombone

STRINGS

1 Harp, 5 Violins I, 4 Violins II, 4 Violas, 4 Violoncellos, 1 Contrabass (includes C extension)

PERCUSSION (1 PERCUSSIONIST)

Timpani, Snare Drum, Suspended Cymbal, Crash Cymbal, Triangle, Tambourine, Woodblock, others including mallets

5 Violins I, 5 Violins II, 5 Violas, 4 Celli, 3 Contrabasses (includes C extension)

Notes
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DAW
.............................................................................
Audio Interface
.............................................................
Focusrite (Clarett 8Pre)
preamp
.............................................................................
mics
.............................................................
Aston Spirit
,
Aston Starlight
,
Shure SM58
,
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.............................................................
.............................................................
instruments
.............................................................
Wurlitzer
,
Hammond
,
Upright Piano
,
Nord Stage 2
,
Notes
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Such a fun experience. Exceeded my expectations. There were some bumps in the road getting the session scheduled, but the actual session (combo of zoom and audiomovers) was flawless. James gave me a ton of great stuff to work with and was a joy to work with.
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Matthew Clark
Musician
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
An amazing session with James. Being the first to record on the track is always the hardest part, laying down the framework from a chart or score. James knocked it out of the ballpark.
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Tom Malinowski
Producer
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James is a great player! Booking all went smoothly this time as well.
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James Barr
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
Thank you James for a silky smooth B3 performance!
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Brian Michael Fuller
TV & Film Composer
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
Perfect and just beautiful playing, nicely organised as well. Many thanks to James
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Tom Clegg
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James was very nice, very efficient, and willing to do four different takes to make sure we had enough to work with. His playing was excellent, his feel exceptional, and overall it was just awesome. The AudioMovers link worked beautifully (that's such awesome software) and it was really fun to hear him add such quality and depth to our tune. The only question we were left with was that we thought it was a 30 minute session and it ended up being about 15 (which was fine this time because he got everything done so efficiently). We really hope you are able to keep the business model going and that you are able to make enough sessions available to keep everyone happy. This makes for some really exciting possibilities for those of us who don't have access to professional session musicians! Thank you!
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Chris Wilson
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James crushed it and was really easy to work with, can't wait to work with him in the future!
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Daniel Nicholas Pintauro
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James put on an amazing performance! Great job.
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Tom Malinowski
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
Another amazingly beautiful piano piece from James!
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Tom Malinowski
Producer
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
Super happy. James added to my idea perfectly with the right sounds of the piano/organ. I got the special vibe that I was hoping for! We took a little bit more time because this song was more complex than other songs. That helped a lot!
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Rebekka Blank
Songwriter
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
Nate is a super cool dude! And James is amazing!!!
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Rebekka Blank
Songwriter
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James is an incredible piano player and great to work with!
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Elliott Brown
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James is a pleasure to work with and uses the full session time to add as many musical ideas and instruments he possibly can.
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Elliott Brown
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James delivered perfectly again. There went something wrong in the first instance, but at the end I'm very happy with the recordings!
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Toon Habraken Habraken
Composer
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James is a champ. The tracks sound great, no weird issues, no bad edits. Sonically great, playing is great.
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Jon Martin
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James Graham always delivers quality files of a quality performance
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Michael Gray
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
It's nice to listen to the piano of James can play my modern classical song, he's very a professional musician.
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Note Ratthakorn Komol
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James was happy to try moving the mics and we really got the sound I was after. Great session and great recording.
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Guillermo Martorell
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James did a great job.
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Krishnakumar Radha Kumaran
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James is so nice and very talented. His composition and playing are both wonderful!
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Michael Eitelberg
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James is an exceptional keyboardist and musician. He went above and beyond to develop the track, all under 30 minutes! Amazing work.
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Tom Malinowski
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
Great, nice working with James!
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Rolando Gori
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
Phenomenal player! Really uplifting musician and excellent sounding piano and Hammond x
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Graham Stewart
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James G. is brilliant! Files are perfect.
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San Gordon
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James is great.
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Michael Gray
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James Graham is a stellar organ player with a ton of natural instinct and even better, it's a real Hammond! Very happy with these files.
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Michael Gray
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
Working with James was wonderful. He was intuitive, talented and flexible. His playing was stellar and he was exactly what I was looking for. Plus, a really nice guy.
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Tim Rose
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James did a smashing job on an unattended session! Nailed the intro.
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Tom Malinowski
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James is a great musician, knew exactly what I was after. Impressive range of keyboards from which to choose the sound/ambience I was after
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Mark Triffitt
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James always goes the extra mile...with a smile.
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Kelly Klein
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James always provides high quality files. To be honest, we're rating them before we even downloaded them - we're more commenting on how talented he is, how quickly he "gets" each piece we give him, and how quickly he turns around his stems. Awesome.
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Chris Wilson
Producer & Musician
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
Amazing performance and quality of capturing instruments, James is the best!
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Michael Gray
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James is a genius - amazing player, really nice guy.
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Joachim Bischof
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
Piano is perfectly mic’d along with James’ high quality gear makes the session files sound great every time!
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Elliott Brown
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James always gives 110%.
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Kelly Klein
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James Graham is Amazing! Can't live without him. He figures out how to make magic in every session.
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Adam James
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James provided many creative options for the track. The sound quality is great!
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Joseph Roberts
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
I am super happy with the experience! I am getting used to the remote sessions now. They work very well. Very uncomplicated. I can book so many sessions! I cannot thank you enough for making that possible! You are the greatest! I really hope this business goes super well for you so you can expand. For my (demo) purposes I cannot ask for more - James is an amazing pianist. Delivered great takes, in half an hour that is very strong! To really go deep into a song and work on it profoundly for end recording... maybe. It seems a bit tough to me, though, for a creative process to open up for a new song in half an hour and really nail it like that. Hm. Also for me! To express in half an hour what I want. Probably it's good - because I can come back the next time when I know exactly what I want/need. - We will see. I guess it's just a different way of working. :) And I will get used to it... I love the half hour efficiency, though! I think it's great to be really productive. All thumps up for you
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Rebekka Blank
Songwriter
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
The sound of James’ B3 was STELLAR! Exactly what I had envisioned!
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Brian Michael Fuller
TV & Film Composer
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James is a pro musician with a high quality recording setup. I'm really happy with the results!
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Elliott Brown
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
The sound quality and musicianship on my files are top notch. My session with James was great.
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Zack Orr
Singer-Songwriter
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James is an excellent professional... superb piano player and a pleasure to work with, look forward to more in the future
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Angus Campbell
Music Creator
5 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars3 out of 5 stars2 out of 5 stars4 out of 5 stars
James Graham is always a pleasure to work with
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Michael Gray
Music Creator
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