Sam Graham Trio

Formed in April, 2002, the Sam Graham Trio has worked hundreds of dates, from the basements of New York (the jazz lounge at NYC’s famed CBGB’s) to the hilltops of Los Angeles (the J. Paul Getty Museum). In addition to those and other prominent venues (including the Los Angeles House of Blues' Foundation Room), the band has performed at many nightclubs, restaurants, private parties, art openings, weddings, outdoor festivals, and other events and functions.

Some of the major clients of the Sam Graham Trio have included: United Airlines, Buick (the Trio performed at the Hollywood Palladium in November, 2009 for an unveiling of new Buick vehicles; the event was headlined by Colbie Caillat), the Banana Republic, the cities of Los Angeles and Palm Springs, the Jet Propulsion Lab at Cal Tech University, corporations such as the Syska Hennessy Group and TBA Global, law firms such as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and numerous other business clients, in addition to their private events.

Sam Graham Trio members

Sam (guitar, vocal, songwriter)
Born and raised in the Midwest, schooled in the East, Sam came to Los Angeles in the late ‘70s to begin a career as a writer. That worked out well, as he spent 25 years as an author (his books include a history of Fleetwood Mac), 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). He’s also been teaching yoga in and around L.A. since 1989, and has been on the faculty of UCLA’s Extension School since ‘96. 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 (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, he divides his time between producing, session work, and artist management.

Jon (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 six-year-old son. He now plays with the Sam Graham Trio as well as numerous other organizations (including several classical ensembles), and continues to study privately.