WardWide-Music

ABOUT GRAHAM WARD

UK born, Graham began his musical career at the age of five, amongst professional musicians, as a drummer in his father’s mainstream jazz ensemble. By age seven he was recognized by the British music community as a child prodigy. By age 13 he had recorded his first album and become a member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, which went on to tour the world. Later that same year he was also cast to play drums in the motion picture “Bugsy Malone” directed by Alan Parker.

By age sixteen, Graham turned fully professional. At this point, his rapid rise included recording four albums, appearing in numerous TV shows – including two Royal command performances for the Queen. He had been interviewed by many newspapers and magazines for feature articles (such as the London Sunday Times magazine “Lifespan” feature). He also, at this point, had equipment endorsements for drums, sticks, cymbals etc. Graham has been sought after, ever since, for recording and live work with the top artists of the world.

Over the span of his career he has worked with Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Roger Daltrey, Jon Anderson, Donna Summer, Mark Knopfler, Ray Charles, Bee Gees, Lulu, Toni Braxton, The Supremes, Paul Young, Haircut 100, Nick Heyward, Judy Colins, Ben E. King, Johnny Mathis, The Adventurers, John 5, Chris De Burgh , Stephane Grappelli, Warren G, Tokio Hotel, Rudimental, Aloe Blacc, Fred Durst and The Pussycat Dolls to name some of the Artists in a diverse spectrum of idioms.

Jumping to the other side of the fence from mainstream artists, Graham has also been privileged to work with such classical artists as: José Carreras, Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, Sarah Brightman, Michael Crawford and Elaine Page. He has also performed and recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, the London Philharmonia and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

By age twenty-five, Graham had already toured all the world’s continents more than once, with a variety of different artists and recorded over 60 albums. He performed as the opening drummer in the original London production of “Cats” at the age of nineteen and then worked for the former members of ABBA, Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus in the musical “Chess” as well as becoming part of their English Rhythm section. Other shows included The Rocky Horror Show, Metropolis, King, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar and Song and Dance. His studio work has also spans all aspects of the industry, from working on many motion picture sound tracks, to hundreds of jingles and media sessions.

In 1996 Tom Jones offered Graham a contract and green card sponsorship resulting in his relocation to Los Angeles. Graham toured with Tom Jones until 2002. After departing from Tom Jones’s touring gig, Graham formed his own music production company in Los Angeles, which went on to be a tremendous success. Graham obtained representation as a music composer from the highly acclaimed talent agency, I.C.M. He was able to translate his talent and spectacular level of experience, having worked for decades with the very best artists the world has to offer, into being a significant force as a multi-genre music producer in Los Angeles, a city known as a global mecca for music.

In 2012 he formally relocated to Cape Town after falling in love with the Mother City’s splendor and charm, as well as a beguiling redhead, who convinced him to stay. It is in Cape Town where now he wants to focus his energy and time into the writing and producing of music from his studio/music production company, WardWide-Music.

Graham is very happy to also find himself teamed up with partners, Ross MacDonald and Ndaba Mandela in the forming of a new record label, The Rising Records, in an effort to find and nurture new artists and establish a place for them in the music industry, both locally and internationally.

PROJECTS PAST AND PRESENT

Graham has produced and recorded many artists including:

American Idol Brooke White, Australian Idols Dan O’Connor and Rikki Lee, as well as Universal Motown Recording artists Days Difference and Multi Million selling Artist Matt Goss.

He co­-produced (and is the only person to ever do so) with the legendary record producer Phil Spector on “Crying For John Lennon”, including the title song for “Strawberry Fields: Keeping the Spirit of John Lennon Alive”. He produced and finished Rachelle Spector’s album alongside both Phil and Rachelle Spector.

OTHER CREDITS INCLUDE:

Writing and recording the worldwide trailer for the Film “Oceans Twelve” for which he and his co­-writer Torquil Monro were nominated for best trailer by Golden Trailer Awards. Other works have included producing music for MTV’s “Battle for Ozzfest”, “The Newly Weds”, “The Ozbournes”, as well as VH1’s “Love Couch”, and 2 seasons for the Sean Combs TV Show “Making the Band”.

GRAHAMS CLIENT LIST HAS INCLUDED:

NBC, Universal Music Group, Capitol Records, Sony Records. Fox Networks, USA Network, Speed Network, Warner Brothers, and many more.