Sam Graham Trio
The Sam Graham Trio (Sam Graham, guitar-vocal; Ralf Balzer, drums; Jon Mohr, bass) was formed in 2002. Since then, the group has performed scores of gigs, from the hilltops of Los Angeles (The Getty Center) to the basements of New York (the Jazz Lounge at CBGB's), from restaurants and bars to concerts, private parties, weddings, and numerous other events. While the group draws on an extensive repertoire of jazz standards immortalized by Sinatra, Miles Davis, Nat "King" Cole, Wes Montgomery, and many more, they also explore their roots in pop and rock music with innovative adaptations of songs by Nirvana, Metallica, the Doors, and the Beach Boys. All in all, it adds up to a singular style: Jazz for Moderns.
Musicians' Biography...
Sam Graham (guitar, vocal, songwriter)
Born and raised in the Midwest, schooled in the East, Sam came to Los Angeles in the late ‘70s to pursue a career as a writer. That worked out well, as he spent 25 years as an author (books include a history of Fleetwood Mac and text for a collection of photos by Kenny Rogers), journalist (he spent five years as a music trade magazine editor), speechwriter (he put words in the mouths of Walter Cronkite, Jane Pauley, U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, and many others), and screenwriter (he received an Emmy nomination for his work on the animated series “Bobby’s World” and co-wrote “Night of the Twisters,” a movie of the week that remains the highest-rated broadcast in the history of the Family Channel). Sam has also taught yoga in and around L.A. since 1989, and was on the faculty of the UCLA Extension School's Education Department for seven years. But playing music was the thing he always loved best, and after forming the Sam Graham Trio, he apparently has finally figured out what he wants to do when he grows up.
Ralf Balzer (drums)
Ralf was born in Zurich, Switzerland, where he grew up playing jazz and rock 'n' roll. He spent a number of years with the Apple’s Paradise big band before earning a scholarship to the Grove School of Music, which brought him to the United States. Fifteen years later, he holds recording credits on nearly twenty albums and has performed roughly 2000 live shows, playing and recording with such charting artists as E.G. Daily, The Flys, Joey Santiago (of the Pixies), and Moris Tepper (Captain Beefheart). Ralf has toured extensively throughout the world, including Cuba, France, Italy, Spain, Puerto Rico, Turkey, and Honduras. These days, along with playing jazz with the Sam Graham Trio in Los Angeles, he divides his time between producing, session work, and artist management.
Jon Mohr (bass)
Born in Fullerton, CA, Jon began playing music in the fourth grade, when he took up the alto saxophone, moving to bass guitar in high school and adding acoustic upright bass to his palette in the 1980s. After graduating from the USC School of Music in 1996, he was hired to tour with Rickie Lee Jones and was promptly fired before the tour began. He later he took a job teaching music to elementary school children while continuing to pursue his performance career, which took him to Taiwan (in '98) and then Japan (in 2000), where he lived for six months while playing bass for Universal Studios Japan in Osaka; having played at various amusement parks around the world, he now knows the themes to "Batman" and "Love American Style" by heart. Jon owns a home in Atwater Village, CA, where he lives with his wife and three-year-old son. He now plays with the Sam Graham Trio as well as other organizations, and continues to study privately.
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| Whether it's day or night, inside or out... whether you need music for a concert or simply some music blend into the background, the jazz band Sam Graham Trio does it, and does it right. |
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