Bruce Hebenton Graham

Born, in 1941, and educated in Dundee, Scotland, Bruce was initially taught on Piano-Accordion by Henry Nelmes Forbes, the same teacher of the famous Sir Jimmy Shand.         Bruce also studied the Joseph Schillinger Course of Composition with Vernon 'Bushey' Thompson, while working in Aberdeen 1962-64.   He also became an accomplished multi-instrumentalist on Keyboards, Woodwinds, Percussion, and Electronic instruments.

After working abroad Bruce moved his base to London in 1965 to study and work with some of the leading names in music and theatre.

He worked alongside Sir John Dankworth, Dame Cleo Laine, Wayne Sleep, Julian Lloyd-Webber, Jeff Wayne, Ike Isaacs, Frankie Vaughan, Vince Hill, Tommy Steele, The Beatles, Lulu, Faith Brown, Tommy Cooper, Douglas Fairbanks Jnr.,  Rock Hudson, Juliette Prowse, The Three Degrees, James Cagney and Edmund O'Brien, The Drifters, Bob Hope, Eric Delaney, Ronald Binge, Buddy Greco, The Bob Burns Quartet, The Henry MacKenzie Quintet, The George Mitchell Black and White Minstrels, and spent two decades in West End musicals, including seven musicals for Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber, and on the original recording of Les Miserables for the French company.

He has performed on piano, tuned percussion, organ, piano-accordion, orchestrated, and composed for the best of the British Orchestras, including three seasons at the London Palladium, and over fifty shows at the Royal Albert Hall.   Bruce was a studio session musician for many years with countless film backing tracks.
     
Bruce has been associated with the following great orchestras.........

The National Philharmonic Orchestra, The London Concert Orchestra, The Miss World Orchestra, The New Bert Kaempfert Orchestra,  The BBC Radio Orchestra, The BBC Big Band, The BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra, The BBC Northern Dance Orchestra, The BBC Midland Light Orchestra, The BBC Welsh Orchestra, The Alyn Ainsworth Orchestra, The Ronnie Hazelhurst Orchestra, The Geoff Love Orchestra, The Cecil Bolton EMI Orchestra, The Bill Russo London Jazz Orch., The Phil Tate Orchestra, The Ronnie Aldrich Orchestra, The John Dankworth Orchestra, The  London Palladium Orch.,  The Maynard Ferguson Big Band, The Tommy Steele Concert Orchestra,  The Roy Budd Orchestra, Top Of The Pops, The Harry Leader Orch., The Les Reed Orch., The Len Phillips Orchestra, The Reader's Digest Orchestra, .........etc..

          However, there were many other enquiries for his services that had to be turned down due to previous work commitments such as tours with Dick Haymes, and Lorna Luft., and The Geraldo Orchestra

Bruce wrote the musical Robbie!, based on the life of the Scottish farmer-poet Robert Burns, which included a short ballet piece, which has now been extended into a complete ballet, and  been accepted by the Royal Scottish Ballet Company. 

In recent years Bruce has concentrated his composing skills towards the classical field, with ten Symphonies, and his Five Innovations For Solo Guitar And Orchestra which was  successfully premiered with shows over two weeks at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010.       It featured the famed Scottish guitar soloist Ged Brockie, and was conducted by the Hollywood film composer Hummie Mann.     It was also later issued as a video. with some interviews of Bruce and the cast included.   You will also find it on YouTube.

Bruce has been the Musical Director of the 18-piece Croydon Jazz Orchestra since 1997, and he still takes out his one-man comedy family show, based on Victor Borge's piano-comedic style.

      
With his vast repertoire, Bruce is the number one call for a solo Piano stylist in the top Hotels and Function rooms in London's West End., such as the Kensington Gardens Suite, The Skyline, The Churchill, The Dorchester, The Mariott Hotel, St John's Wood, The Claremont, Charing Cross, The Leonardo Royal Hotel, St Pauls, The Function Room, Whitehall, The Royal Horseguards Hotel, The London Hilton, The Piccadilly Hotel, The Sheraton, Heathrow, The Holiday Inn Windsor, The Four Seasons, The Intercontinental, The Bonnington, Russell Square Hotel, The Mayfair Hotel, the Cafe De Paris, Le Prive, Les Ambassaddeurs, Quaglino's, The Savoy,  etc., etc..

Whatever Bruce is involved with is LARGE, and the bigger, the better.     See the Music Page for details of his  SeemFunny Orchestra.

Charles Cleese