Bassist John Graves began his musical development singing in a local children's choir. He started piano at 8, switching to electric bass at age 13 and took up double bass at 17. A composition major and student of Boulanger pupil Joel Feigin, John received his bachelor of music from UCSB, where he studied classical bass with Nico Abondolo. He then went on to study North Indian classical music at the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music for a summer.

Upon graduating, John moved back to his native Los Angeles where he delved more deeply into jazz improvisation with Harold Land, Billy Higgins, Roberto Miranda and Kenny Burrell through the UCLA extension program.

Since leaving academia John has worked as a composer, bassist and producer in such diverse areas as pop, Arabic, gospel, hip-hop, Western swing, film music and reggae. John has composed for Emmy winning Discovery Channel documentaries, student films and reality TV. As bassist for the stage and dance bands on Holland America's Ryndam cruise ship during the summer of 2001, John performed every day in a variety of styles, supporting the cast in Broadway style productions as well as guest artists ranging from classical pianists to comedians.

He currently performs with Tyler Azelton (singer/songwriter), Svara (world music quartet), Deep 6 Holiday (rock band), the Redwood Trio (jazz) and in solo jazz bass recitals. He is writing a book of studies incorporating his unique knowledge of jazz harmony, Warne Marsh's improvisations and Indian rhythm. John compses trailer music for audiomachine.