More than just a trombonist, but here’s all his trombone stuff…

Cam, or Cameron Buma, was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. Before we go any further, if you are from Germany and are wondering why he has a girls name, let me just direct you to this statistic.

It was clear from a very young age that Cam had a talent for music. Mainly because he had more interest in drumming on the table than eating his food every evening. In order to save the table, his parents got him a mini drum kit and asked their drummer friend to teach him some beats. After a few lessons, he played for the first time in front of an audience at a church service. The congregation was bewildered and surprised when a previously unseen small child trotted out from behind the kit when the song finished. From there it was all uphill. He enrolled in formal drum lessons at the age of 5, and could read music before he could read actual words.

At the age of 11, craving a new challenge, he picked up the Euphonium, but a few years later, growing tired of the limitations of the Euphonium, he switched to trombone at the age of 13 in order to play in the jazz band. His efforts were rewarded with a scholarship to the illustrious Churchlands Senior High School music program, and during this time he successfully auditioned for the Western Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra.

After school he went on to study Jazz Performance at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, graduating with a bachelors degree. During this time he was lucky to be able to share the stage with artists such as James Morrison, Fred Wesley, Katie Noonan, Jim McNealy, Wilson Saoko, Kate Ceberano, and to perform in productions of musicals such as Cabaret, Parade, Crazy for You, Anything Goes, 42nd Street, and Ragtime. He also co-founded the Perth based Dixieland band Beans Buma’s Boys of Rhythm, which still plays on without him, but under his name.

After completing his studies, he moved to Hamburg, Germany and began to compose and find his sound. He started the band Cam Buma Project as a way to experiment with a group and hear the music he was writing. This project culminated in the recording of his first album, entitled “The Calling”, in 2014.

In 2013, he spent 4 months playing in the house band onboard the cruise-ship “Island Princess”, sailing in Alaska and the Caribbean. In mid 2014 he started playing as a sub at The Lion King in Hamburg. Shortly after, he began playing for Das Wunder von Bern, and since then he has played in productions of Kinky Boots, Dreamgirls, and Tina as a sub, and been the principle in tour versions of the musical Elisabeth in Germany for 4 months, and Mozart in Shanghai for 2 months.

In 2016, he founded the band The Ragtime Bandits, and has since built them up into a unique mixture of comedy and high quality jazz. 2018 saw the Ragtime Bandits hired as the backing band for hip hop/jazz group Goldmeister, with which Cam has made multiple TV appearances. Over the past 6 years he has had the privilege of regularly playing with artists such as Meute, Miu, Goldmeister, Pudeldame, and Cleo Steinberger.