Rolf Graf (muscian)
| Rolf Graf | |
|---|---|
| Born |
28 April 1960 Oslo, Norway |
| Died | 1 July 2013 (aged 53) Oslo, Norway |
| Genres | Jazzrock, Rock, Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Bass guitar, trumpet, vocals |
| Labels | Polydor |
| Associated acts | Lava |
| Website | grafmusic |
Rolf Graf (born 28 April 1960 in Oslo, Norway – deceased 1 July 2013 in Oslo) was a Norwegian singer, bass guitarist, composer and record producer, and the younger brother of keyboardist Haakon Graf (b. 21 March 1955) and the jazz singer Randi Elisabeth Graf (b. 12 September 1966). He is best known as the bassist in the band Lava, but was also recognized as music producer, musician and songwriter for other artists like Randy Crawford, Mezzoforte and Sissel Kyrkjebø. He also released three solo albums and was editor of the journal "Musikkpraksis".
Graf was raised in a musical family and was greatly inspired by his older brother Haakon known from bands like 'Ruphus', 'Hawk on Flight', and collaborations with such as Terje Rypdal and Jan Garbarek. Graf started his career in 1967 on trumpet, and debuted as a soloist 1 Christmas Day 1972 in Manglerud church.
In 1974 he substituted the trumpet to bass guitar and started the following year a rock band together with the guitarist Marius Müller. In 1979 he got his first professional studio job as a funk bass player. Graf was among the first funk bassist in Norway that restrained slap and snap technique, and the artist and vocalist Alex, or Alex Naumik Sandøy, who was among the first artists to introduced the funk rock in Norway, hired him to play on her album Daddy Child, because her bass player and producer Svein Gundersen failed to play this new style.
The same year he also received a request from Svein Dag Hauge to join the band Lava, where Marius Müller just had joined and recommended Graf, after meeting with Hauge. Lava's second album Cruisin', sold to Silver and climbed the charts. Grafs first composition, "Take Your Time" (with lyrics by Ivar Dyrhaug), climbed to the top of the European summit. Seven CD album was recorded at Lava and a variety of studio work, as well as a composer and producer on numerous recordings.
In 1985 Graf recorded his debut solo album The Boy Next Door, which was released in 13 European countries. This led to appearances in British and Danish TV shows. From the mid 1980s onwards 1990s Graf worked in various compositions, including with Olav Stedje og Egil Eldøen in the band project 'Stedje/Graf/Eldøen', and this was the first band to play at the opening of Rockefeller Music Hall in 1986. Otherwise contributed Graf as a studio musician with artists like Sissel Kyrkjebø, Randy Crawford and Elisabeth Andreassen.
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