Doug Cameron

One of contemporary music's preeminent violinists, Doug Cameron, is joined by an all-star ensemble as he condenses four years of global travel into a romantic, enchanting album filled with fire, grace and passion.

Doug Cameron's violin virtuosity and strong melodic writing is propelled by arrangements that draw on jazz, Latin American rhythms, rock, funk and flamenco. "Rendezvous" was recorded with some of L.A.'s top musicians, including saxophonist Boney James, who is featured in a sultry duet with Cameron on the title track.

If contemporary violinist Doug Cameron's "Rendezvous" sounds like a musical world tour for the mind, it's not surprising. Cameron composed much of its music and road-tested it while serving as headline act on cruise ships during the past few years.

Cameron has built a solid career over the course of five albums brimming with melodic instrumental music propelled by jazzy rhythms with bands of top studio players. With "Rendezvous," Cameron brings his distinctive sound to an exciting new level.

While he didn't plan it this way, each tune on "Rendezvous" sounds like another stop at an exotic port of call-an adventure here, a romance there, and even a rare moment of blissful peace, as Cameron's violin virtuosity jazzily carves out catchy melodies, propelled by arrangements that draw on flamenco, Latin American rhythms, rock and funk.

This is instrumental music that is uniquely Cameron's, as his classical background combined with his abilities as a jazz violinist and composer figure prominently in the melodic pop style he has developed.

Cameron has found shipboard a perfect work setting, as he has spent a few months of each year traveling around the world while entertaining cruise ship vacationers as they visit such far-flung destinations as Morocco and Barcelona, and especially the Caribbean and Latin America.

"The ship pulls into San Juan, Puerto Rico, and I'm not just thinking about its music, I'm out jamming with the local musicians," Cameron enthusiastically explains. He sets up his work studio in his stateroom, "And let me tell you, there's nothing like being on the high seas with no phone or other interruptions for days at a time to focus my concentration on music and stimulate my composing."

On "Rendezvous" the song 'La Celebracion' was inspired by playing with a Puerto Rican salsa band. He wrote 'Horizon Samba' while on a ship called "Horizon," where he also wrote the title tune, 'Rendezvous.'

Like Cameron's previous recordings, the focus of this album is on live playing as the music on "Rendezvous" was recorded with a live band of some of the top studio players in the business, his friends from his years in Hollywood studios. "Except for a few of the pieces that lend themselves to a sequenced, groove-oriented sound, the album is recorded with a live rhythm section. Although I appreciate the technology, I prefer the energy, spontaneity and creativity of working with live musicians."

The title song is a duet with saxophonist Boney James (a Warner Bros. artist). 'La Violeta' features a steamy flamenco accompaniment inspired by his visit to Southern Spain. 'Cruisin'' captures the power of driving in a car, while its arrangement is inspired by the greasy funk of the Tower of Power horns and features Jerry Hey and his horn section. 'Back To Rio' uses the amazing flute work of Steve Kujala.

'Letter To A Friend' takes a different direction, a musical tribute to the late actor Michael Landon. "He was a friend," Cameron says, "and up to the end he was such an upbeat guy. He gave a lot of positive energy to a lot of people. So this tune remembers him not in the sadness of his death, but that positive energy that was his life."

After 'Sneaky,' that goes for the classic three-horn sound (trumpet, trombone and saxophone) that thrived in the jazz clubs of the '50s and '60s, Cameron closes his album with the almost classical ballad 'Heartstrings,' a showcase for his romantic violin style, as if after touring the world, home seems all the more welcome a destination.

For Cameron, "Rendezvous" is the latest and most clearly defined vision in a career that began with classical violin lessons, and led into the worlds of jazz and rock. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he grew up in Rye, a New York City suburb, where he learned to play by ear in a home trio with his jazz singer-pianist mother, and his sister on cello (his sister also plays on "Rendezvous" and Doug's mother, Barbara Cameron wrote and sang "The Roadrunner" cartoon theme song). Still in grade school, he performed with the Westchester Conservatory Orchestra and New York State Youth Orchestra and began winning violin competitions.

Later, at the University of Buffalo he studied with Peter Salaff of the Cleveland String Quartet, and started a jazz quartet on the side. Salaff invited Cameron's quartet to participate in master classes, where students would be asked to improvise over the band's accompaniment, "and you could see other violinists were out of their element because they'd spent there whole lives training to play the music that was put in front of them. I found improvising and playing jazz perfectly natural to me probably because of my background growing up and my interest in rock and jazz as well as classical music."

One night in his senior year he joined in a jam session at a local club where visiting rocker Gregg Allman also sat in. Cameron was an Allman Brothers fan, and had learned on violin all of Duane Allman's guitar solos on the Allman Brothers albums. Allman, duly impressed at what Cameron could do on the violin, invited him to join his band, and upon completing college Cameron packed up and moved to Los Angeles and did just that. After his stint with Gregg Allman, Cameron made a reputation for his musicianship in the Hollywood studios, playing on pop stars' records as well as film and television soundtracks. Doug has worked with a wide spectrum of artists from Doc Severinsen, Steve Vai, Tom Petty, and Allman to jazz artists like George Benson, David Benoit, Lee Ritenour, and Russ Freeman from The Rippingtons.

A little more than 10 years ago Cameron was ready to launch his own career, one that incorporated most of his musical loves, but was his own statement. A series of albums caught the imaginations of listeners and radio stations, with his "Passion Suite" and "Mil Amores" both enjoying lengthy stays on the Top 5 radio airplay charts in contemporary jazz and New Adult Contemporary formats. "Rendezvous" is Doug's fifth release since his debut album, "Freeway Suite," was released in 1987.

"I appreciate all I've done," Cameron says in explaining why he left a lucrative studio career to go the solo route, "but playing classical music and in studios is often not a very creative or inspiring environment as any studio musician will admit, especially when you're asked to play the music that's put in front of you exactly as it's written. "I enjoy studio recording, especially when I work as a soloist, however, I particularly enjoy the spontaneity of improvisation, of being able to express myself as the music is happening. When everything is going right that special connection occurs with the musicians you're playing with, it's like lightning strikes. In that transcendent moment it's like a force comes in and plays the music for you. It's moments like this that keep music exciting and fresh for me."