Camara 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]
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’sMy Name Is and Guilty Conscious; Snoop Dogg’sB**** Please; and co-wrote Mary J. Blige’sFamily 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]
