Michael Brandon Fraser was born in Dundee, Scotland and in 1965 began playing organ with local bands.

In 1966 he became a professional musician and moved down to London, where he joined a band from Glasgow called The Senate.

In The Senate at this time were Robbie MacIntosh who was later to become the original drummer with The Average White Band and Alex Ligertwood who would later be the lead singer with Carlos Santana.

With the Senate he played around England and especially London in the various clubs that were popular at that time. He also recorded with The Senate in Abbey Road Studios, played on sessions for The Marmalade - another Scottish band based in London - and recorded the music for a documentary for the BBC. Tours of England and Germany with The Senate followed, backing various artists including Ben E. King, Garnet Mimms and Duane Eddy.

In January of 1968 The Senate played a one-month engagement in The Piper Club in Rome. Later that year they returned to Italy to play in Torino, Viareggio and Rome. In the summer the band recorded two albums for RCA in Rome and played a three week engagement in St.Tropez. In the autumn they played in Munich for one month. During this engagement they also played as support for Sammy Davis Jr.

The Senate broke up in January of 1969. The band had run its course. He, along with other ex-members of the band, remained in Italy.

The trumpet player in the band at that time was Tony Mimms - not related to Garnet. Tony Mimms was to become an important and respected arranger in Italy and in the following years they would continue to work together in Milan and Rome. This was the beginning of sessions and tours with various Italian artists including Ennio Morricone, Vasco Rossi and Celentano.

In the spring of 1974 he worked in Paris and Montpellier recording jingles and albums with different groups. Later that year he began to compose the theme music for various cartoon series that were shown on RAI television.
The total sales of these various themes were in the region of 500,000 units.
The theme music for a series called “Candy” was particularly successful.

In 1979 he recorded an album in Milan with other session musicians including guitarist Kelvin Bullen, tenorist Claudio Pascoli and drummer Walter Calloni. The band was called Cast. In September of that year the finished album was mixed in New York.
This allowed the guest participation of Hamish Stuart and Roger Ball of The Average White Band as they had been based in the United States for a number of years.

    

During this period in New York, he also recorded in Nola Recording Studios with Lani Groves, a session singer who had worked with Dave Sanborn and Stevie Wonder amongst others.

In October he recorded an album for Vasco Rossi in Bologna, and in November he toured Italy for one month with singer/songwriter Roberto Vecchioni.

In the spring of 1980 the Average White Band asked him to play keyboards on a European tour that they were about to do. The tour, which was to promote the album called Shine, lasted six months.

Over the following three years, still based in Rome, he continued to do session work and tours that included a one-off gig with Chuck Berry, further studio work for Ennio Morricone, another album for Vasco Rossi, and albums for Renato Zero and Roberto Vecchioni.
During this period he also worked for RAI television on two, three-month contracts as an additional musician working with the house orchestra.

In February of 1984 he moved to Los Angeles to compose with a singer/songwriter called Laurie Forsey whom he had met the previous year in Rome.

In January of 1985 he returned to Rome to rehearse for an Italian tour with singer Amii Stewart. The tour lasted for nine months and covered the whole of Italy.

    

In 1986 he returned to Los Angeles to resume work with Laurie Forsey.

He returned to Rome in 1987 and continued session work and composing and in 1989 he transferred to Milan. Whilst living in Milan, he participated in a cultural exchange between Leningrad, as the city was then called, and Milan, playing for one week in Leningrad with a blues band from Italy.

In 1990, he began working in Switzerland with Vic Vergeat, lead guitarist with the Swiss band, Toad. In the Spring of 1996 he arranged and programmed a CD called Largo for singer/songwriter, Jim Wilkie. On this CD, he also composed the music to a track called Calbharaigh which was a poem written by the great Scottish poet, Sorley Maclean. Later the same year, Karen Matheson, singer with the band Capercaillie also recorded the track on her solo album, The Dreaming Sea. In 1999 in Basel Switzerland, he composed, arranged and programmed a solo CD for drummer percussionist Claudio Salsi. Also in Switzerland he did some song writing with Marc Storace of Krokus and in 2001 he played at the Lugano Jazz and Blues Festival with Vic Vergeat and singer Lisa Hunt.

At present, he continues to compose and arrange in various styles covering a wide spectrum of music.

1966 with “The Senate”
- Recorded in Abbey Road Studios
- Documentary for the BBC
- England and German Tours

1968 with “The Senate”
- One month at The Piper Club, Rome
- Played in Torino, Viareggio and Rome
- Recorded two albums for RCA in Rome
- Shows in St. Tropez
- One month in Munich as support for Sammy Davis Jr

1969 - 1973
- Session and Tour with various Italian artists including
   Ennio Morricone, Vasco Rossi and Adriano Celentano

1974
- Jingles and Albums recorded in Paris and Montpellier
- Theme music for various cartoon series for RAI
   TELEVISION

1977
- Session with Rino Gaetano
- Album and tour with Adriano Celentano

1979
- Recorded with “Cast” an album in Milan
- Recorded in Nola Recording Studios with Lani Groves
- Recorded an album for Vasco Rossi in Bologna
- One month Italian Tour with Roberto Vecchioni

1980
- European Tour with “The Average White Band” as
   guest keyboards

1981 - 1983
- Studio work with Ennio Morricone
- Albums with Vasco Rossi, Roberto Vecchioni and
   Renato Zero
- One-off gig with Chuck Berry
- Additional musician with RAI ORCHESTRA

1984
- Composed with singer and songwriter Laurie Forsey in
   L.A. for most of 1984

1985
- Italian Tour with Amii Stewart

1986
- Resumed working with Laurie Forsey in L.A.

1989
- One week in Leningrad with an Italian Blues Band
- Summer Tour with Roberto Vecchioni

1990
- Collaborated with singer/songwriter Jim Wilkie in
   Scotland



    

1998
- Composed, arranged and programmed a solo CD for
   drummer/percussionist Claudio Salsi in Basel
   Switzerland

2001
- Played at The Lugano Jazz and Blues Festival with
   guitarist VIc Vergeat

2002
- Collaborated with DJ and Producer Christopher Whyte
   in Basel, Switzerland

2003
- Collaborated with producer Klem Trenkle in Basel,
   Switzerland, for MusicXDream Productions