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Camara Kambon (born February 4, 1973) is an American film composer, songwriter, pianist, music producer and educator. He is known for collaborating with Dr. Dre on 2001,[1][2][3] as well as Eminem on The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP.[4] He co-wrote the Mary J. Blige song Family Affair,[5][6] composed the theme for the Mara Brock Akil produced CW sitcom, Girlfriends,[7][8] and the score for the DreamWorks' feature film, Biker Boyz.[9][10] Kambon has received an Emmy Award, two Emmy nominations, three Grammy nominations, a BMI Pop Award and a BMI Film/TV Award.[11][12][13]
Camara Kambon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 4, 1973 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Education | Berklee College of Music Atlantic University |
| Occupation(s) | Film composer, musician, songwriter, music producer, educator |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Website | camarakambon |
Early life and career
editCamara Kambon grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He was considered a musical prodigy from an early age, and his talent was featured in the Baltimore Afro-American and The Baltimore Sun newspapers.[14][15] At age 10, Kambon was awarded a scholarship to attend the Peabody Preparatory School of the Johns Hopkins University, to study jazz, classical piano, and musicianship.[16][17] At 14, he performed with jazz legend trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C.[18][19] It was during this same year he encountered composer and longtime Bill Cosby collaborator, Stu Gardner, who inspired an interest in composing for TV and film.[20]
In the fall of 1991, Kambon received a Jesse Stone scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he majored in film scoring and music production & engineering.[18] In 1995, Kambon premiered his commissioned piece, Korikabaya, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.[16][14]
After graduating from Berklee in 1995, Kambon moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a composer. A year later, he became the youngest composer to win a national Emmy award for scoring the HBO film, Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion.[21][22] In that same year, Kambon was hired to work with rapper and record producer Dr. Dre as his keyboardist, music director and orchestrator in residence for all recordings of his newly formed company, Aftermath Entertainment.[23] He performed on Dr. Dre hits Forgot About Dre and The Next Episode drawing on his classical background, which influenced the usage of strings and other orchestral instruments in this signature sound;[1][2][3] Eminem’s My Name Is and Guilty Conscious; Snoop Dogg’s B**** Please; and co-wrote Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair, the singer’s first song to top the Billboard Hot 100.[6]
With a film scoring career spanning over three decades, Kambon has earned critical acclaim and been recognized as a prominent black composer in the American film industry.[24][25] Throughout his career, he has worked with several renowned directors and producers, including Oliver Stone, Tyler Perry, Mara Brock Akil, F. Gary Gray, John Singleton, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Rick Famuyima, LeVar Burton, Orlando Bagwell, and Macky Alston.[26][27] Kambon emphasizes the importance of emotion in music composition,[28] and holds a master's degree in transpersonal psychology from Atlantic University.[7] In addition to his work as a composer, Kambon is dedicated to educating young musicians, while continuing to perform live as a jazz pianist.[29]
Filmography
editFilm
edit- Family Name (1997)[30]
- The Wood (1999)[27]
- Any Given Sunday (1999)[31]
- Michael Jordan to the Max (2000)[27]
- Dancing in September (2001)[27]
- Questioning Faith: Confessions of a Seminarian (2002)[27]
- Biker Boyz (2003)[9][10]
- Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)[31]
- Madea’s Family Reunion (2006)[27]
- Daddy’s Little Girls (2007)[27]
- Hard Road Home (2008)[27]
- La Corona (2008)[32]
- John Lewis: Get in the Way (2015)[33]
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)[15]
- Acts of Reparation (2024)[34]
Television
edit- Dancing: New Worlds New Forms (1993)[35]
- Malcolm X: Make it Plain (1994)[18]
- Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History (1994)[18]
- Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion (1995)[21]
- Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio? (1997)[22]
- The Tiger Woods Story (1998)[27]
- Damon (1998)[27]
- Girlfriends (2000)[20]
- 2gether: The Series (2000)[27]
- OJ: A Study in Black and White (2002)[36]
- A City on Fire: The Story of the ’68 Detroit Tigers (2002)[27]
- Matters of Race (2003)[37]
- This Far by Faith (2003)[38]
- Citizen King (2004)[39]
- Daddy’s Girl (2007)
- One Night in Vegas (2010)[40]
- Now En Español (2015)[41]
- Seau (2018)[42]
- The First Lady (2022)
Awards and nominations
edit- In 1995, Kambon won a Sports Emmy Award for scoring the HBO film Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion.[11]
- In 1997, Kambon received an Emmy nomination for scoring the HBO documentary, Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?.[11]
- In 1997, Kambon won a BMI Film/TV Award for scoring Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion.[13]
- In 2001, Kambon received a Grammy nomination for co-writing Mary J. Blige’s song Family Affair.[11]
- In 2001, Kambon received a Grammy nomination for his keyboard work on Nelly Furtado’s album Whoa, Nelly!.[11]
- In 2002, Kambon received a Grammy nomination for his keyboard work on Eve’s album Scorpion.[11]
- In 2002, Kambon received an Emmy nomination for scoring the HBO documentary A City on Fire: The Story of the ’68 Detroit Tigers.[11]
- In 2003, Kambon won a BMI Pop Award for co-writing Mary J. Blige’s song Family Affair.[12]
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Bozza, Anthony (1999-12-09). "Dr. Dre". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ a b "How Dr. Dre's 'Still D.R.E.' Ushered In A New Millennium Of Radio Rap". UPROXX. 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ a b "Why Dr Dre's 2001 holds up as a hip-hop classic, 20 years on". Red Bull. 2021-08-11. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ "Camara Kambon Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ Benitez-Eves, Tina (2022-10-05). "5 Songs You Didn't Know Dr. Dre Wrote for Other Artists". American Songwriter. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ a b "Mary J. Blige - Family Affair | TheAudioDB.com". www.theaudiodb.com. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ a b "SongNet – The Songwriters Network". Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "GIRLFRIENDS: WHAT'S BLACK-A-LACKIN'? (TV)". The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
- ^ a b "Historical Dictionary Of African American Cinema (historical Dictionaries Of Literature And The Arts) [PDF] [5phbkbd7os20]". vdoc.pub. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ a b Koehler, Robert (2003-01-29). "Biker Boyz". Variety. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Alumni All-Stars in the Field of Music Production and Engineering | Berklee College of Music". college.berklee.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ a b "2003 BMI Pop Awards: Song List". BMI.com. 2003-05-13. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
- ^ a b Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1997-05-24.
- ^ a b "The HistoryMakers video oral history with Camara Kambon". libcat.simmons.edu. 2016. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ a b "Camara Kambon with Javier Vergara". Namba Arts. 2022-07-29. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ a b "Johns Hopkins Magazine - June 1996 Issue". pages.jh.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ "About the Preparatory | Peabody Institute". Retrieved 2024-04-06.
- ^ a b c d Mfume, Kwesi (May 18, 1995). "TRIBUTE TO CAMARA KAMBON" (PDF). EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS. p. 13676. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ "The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland". Newspapers.com. 1987-08-11. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ a b Burlingame, Jon (2023). Music for Prime Time: A History of American Television Themes and Scoring. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-061830-8.
- ^ a b "PBS | The Fillmore: Filmmakers". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ a b Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1997-07-19.
- ^ Burlingame, Jon (1999-01-22). "Scoring lab matches mentors, neophytes". Variety. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "The Black Composer in Films - John Caps reviews the history of Black Film Composers". www.mfiles.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "The premiere of a cinematic tribute to black composers". The Seattle Times. 2005-02-18. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
- ^ "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Kambon, Camara | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "Composers Confab: Creating The Best Score For Your Film | International Documentary Association". www.documentary.org. 2008-07-01. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
- ^ Simmons, Tony. "Gulf Jazz Society hosts Emmy-winning pianist". Panama City News Herald. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
- ^ Pinsker, Beth (2003-01-15). "Tracing the path from workshop to bigscreen". Variety. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ a b "BMI and Cal State Fullerton Celebrate Musical Anniversary". BMI.com. 2008-03-20. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ Dufresne, Emily. "Archive: Alumni Notes | Berklee College of Music". college.berklee.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "Newsletters Archives - Page 3 of 5". The Walden School. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "Our Team". Acts of Reparation. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "Dancing : new worlds, new forms | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ Gallo, Phil (2002-11-11). "O.J.: A Study in Black and White". Variety. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ "Matters of Race. Filmmakers | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ "This Far by Faith . Episode 1 | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ "Citizen King | American Experience | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ Dufresne, Emily. "Alum Notes | Berklee College of Music". college.berklee.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "Now En Español". bradleydujmovic.com. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
- ^ "30 for 30 - Full Cast & Crew". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2024-01-30.