Royce Campbell

Royce Campbell (b. North Vernon, June 7, 1952 -- ) – Guitarist, composer and producer. After his mother married a navy man, Campbell found himself living in numerous exotic locations starting at age four. At age nine, he started playing guitar and decided early on that he would make a career out of music. Following high school, he moved to Indianapolis and lived with his uncle Carrol DeCamp (see below), a successful arranger/pianist/guitarist. In Indy, he soon became part of the jazz scene and played with a local jazz fusion group called Myriad, which started in the mid 1970s and morphed into Affinity. After touring with Marvin Gaye in 1973, Campbell was a member of Henry Mancini’s traveling group from 1975 until 1994. Since 1990, he has recorded 14 CDs as a leader or co-leader and has played on over thirty additional CDs. His recordings and performances have gotten attention in pages of several popular publications including Down Beat and Guitar Player Magazine. Of particular note, Campbell’s A Tribute to Henry Mancini (Episode Records, 1996) received more national airplay than other jazz CD for several weeks following its release. In addition, he also recorded Project G-5, A Tribute to Wes Montgomery (Evidence Records, 1994). Currently residing in the Virginia/D.C. area, Royce Campbell has performed with Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughn, Ray Brown, Dave Brubeck, Joe Williams, Cleo Laine, Eddie Daniels, Eddie Harris, Frank Morgan and Mose Allison. As a soloist, he has toured Europe seven times and Japan ten times.