He is best known for his orchestral collaborations with David Bowie, Shawn Phillips, Elton John, Harry Nilsson, The Rolling Stones, Carly Simon, Leonard Cohen, Miles Davis, and the Grateful Dead in the 1970s, followed by his contributions to the recordings of many other artists, including Stevie Nicks, Lionel Richie, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Rogers, Guns N' Roses, Lloyd Cole, Taylor Swift, Something Corporate, Train, and Heart.

His father, John Caravoglia Buckmaster, was an English actor[a] and his mother, Ermenegilda ("Gilda") Maltese, was an Italian concert pianist and graduate of the Naples Conservatory of Music.

Buckmaster stated in Mojo magazine's feature "60 Years of Bowie", that he had played cello on the original soundtrack recordings,[7] on which Carlos Alomar, J. Peter Robinson and others were also included: There were a couple of medium tempo rock instrumental pieces, with simple motifs and rifly kind of grooves, with a line-up of David's rhythm section (Carlos Alomar et al.) plus J. Peter Robinson on Fender Rhodes and me on cello and some synth overdubs, using ARP Odyssey and Solina.

There was also a piece I wrote and performed using some beautifully made mbiras (African thumb pianos) I had purchased earlier that year, plus cello, all done by multiple overdubbing.

[1] Buckmaster won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for his work on American rock band Train's 2001 single "Drops of Jupiter".