Chester Kamen
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Chester Kamen 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 themselve ...
, 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 global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
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Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...
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David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...
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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 (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...
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 a British singer, songwriter and model of mixed Burmese, Irish, Dutch and French descent. He was best known for the singles "Each Time You Break My Heart" from 1986 and "I Promised My ...
and Barry Kamen. 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, record producer and musician. Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...
.


Career

In 1985, Kamen performed on stage at
Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...
alongside
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, 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 experiments ...
's guitarist David Gilmour as part of
Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...
'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 bassist. He has worked with artists including Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Gary Moore, Madonna, Peter Cetera, Michael Jackson, the Smiths, Robert Palmer (singer), Robert Palmer, Echo & the Bunnymen, T ...
. Around 1990, Chester formed a band called Wildlife with Geoff Dugmore and Steve Barnacle which toured with
Jeff Healey Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz guitarist, singer 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 didn't 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 and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...
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 ...
on guitars and backing vocals, for the 2008 leg on Waters' The Dark Side of the Moon Live 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. 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 English lead guitarists 20th-century English composers 20th-century English guitarists Year of birth missing (living people) People from Hackney, London