Chester Kamen (born in Hackney, London) is an English session
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
, whose work has included performing with
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
,
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ' ...
,
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...
,
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
,
Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...
,
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
,
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...
,
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...
,
Seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
,
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall.
The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...
,
Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty Anna MacColl (10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He ...
,
Belouis Some
Belouis Some (born Neville Keighley; 12 December 1959) is a British singer, songwriter and musician. He had UK and Worldwide hits in the 1980s with " Some People", "Imagination" and " Round, Round" from the John Hughes film ''Pretty in Pink''.
...
and
Gabrielle.
Early life
Kamen started playing the guitar at the age of 11, and at 18, he turned professional. His first recording was with the band called Numbers. Kamen and the Numbers vocalist, Ouida, teamed up and were discovered by
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ' ...
who produced their self-penned single entitled, "Pick Up In a Nightclub". He is the elder brother of
Nick Kamen
Ivor Neville "Nick" Kamen (15 April 1962 – 4 May 2021) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and model. He was best known for "Turn It Up" from 1989, the singles "Each Time You Break My Heart" from 1986 and "I Promised Myself" from 1990, ...
and
Barry Kamen
Barry Owen Kamen (22 September 1963 – 3rd October 2015) was a British artist, stylist and model of mixed Burmese, Irish, Dutch and French descent. He was best known as an original member of Ray Petri's Buffalo movement.
Early life
Barry Ka ...
. Chester has three children; Joni, Finley, and Ben. Although they both frequently worked with Pink Floyd musicians, he is not related to
Michael Kamen
Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician.
Biography Early life
Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...
.
Career
In 1985, Kamen performed on stage at
Live Aid
Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...
alongside
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
's guitarist David Gilmour as part of
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ' ...
's backing band, first playing with Ferry on his ''
Boys and Girls'' album also in 1985. He continued to work with Ferry into the 1990s. Kamen joined him for the 1989 dates of his ''
Bête Noire'' tour and was the lead guitarist on the 1994 dates of his Mamouna tour. Kamen also co-wrote and co-produced some of the tracks on Ferry's ''Bête Noire'' album including the song "Seven Deadly Sins" along with
Guy Pratt
Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British musician. He is best known for his prolific work as a session bass player, working with artists including Pink Floyd (also David Gilmour and Nick Mason), Roxy Music (also Bryan Ferry), Gary M ...
.
Around 1990, Chester formed a band called Wildlife with
Geoff Dugmore
Geoff Dugmore (born 12 April 1960) is a Scottish drummer, musical director and producer. He was a member of the bands The Europeans, and Wildlife.
Career
Educated at Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow, Scotland, Dugmore started his musical career ...
and
Steve Barnacle which toured with
Jeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " Ang ...
. They produced an album eponymously named Wildlife with Epic ref Epic 467361 2. These are not to be confused with other bands of the same name. They appear to have been short lived and didnt produce any other material apart from a Single/EP
In 2002, when
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...
continued his In The Flesh Tour, Kamen was brought on board to replace Doyle Bramhall II, who had other commitments and could not commit to the tour. Kamen's association with Waters continued, when he replaced
Andy Fairweather-Low
Andrew Fairweather Low (born 2 August 1948) is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's R ...
on guitars and backing vocals, for the 2008 leg on Waters'
The Dark Side of the Moon Live
The Dark Side of the Moon Live was a worldwide concert tour by Roger Waters, lasting two years. Waters and his band performed the titular album in its entirety at each show, beginning at the Rock in Rio festival on 2 June 2006.
The tour feat ...
tour. Kamen also notably appeared with Waters and David Gilmour when they performed a short set together for the charity Hoping Foundation, in Oxfordshire, England on 11 July 2010.
In 2016, Kamen toured as part of David Gilmour's band, taking part in his
Rattle That Lock Tour
The Rattle That Lock Tour was a concert tour by English singer and musician David Gilmour to support his fourth solo studio album, ''Rattle That Lock''. The tour became a commercial success, grossing $47 million and selling 288,997 tickets in 16 ...
.
In May 2021, Kamen released the track "Stories" performed by his band The Twins: "Dedicated to the memory of my two beloved little brothers, Nick and Barry".
Selected discography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamen, Chester
Living people
English record producers
English rock guitarists
English session musicians
Lead guitarists
20th-century English composers
20th-century British guitarists
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Hackney, London