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Brian Felix was born in New Jersey and began studying piano at the age of five. His early grounding was in classical music, but by his early teens his interest moved to jazz, rock and other improvisational keyboard styles. At Rutgers University, Felix became serious about the study of jazz music and worked for two years under the tutelage of piano legend Kenny Barron. The clubs in the Rutgers area also proved to be the perfect breeding ground for Felix’s skills, where he played jazz, rock and funk with multiple local bands.
After graduating from Rutgers in 1999 with a BA in Music, Felix moved to the West Coast where he formed the jazz-rock group OM Trio. The group toured relentlessly until 2004 and released five albums. The last two, Live and Globalpositioningrecord, received substantial critical acclaim from The Washington Post, The Village Voice, Modern Drummer, and others. The band was also voted Best Local Jazz Band by the San Francisco Bay Guardian in 2001.
During the OM Trio years, Brian expanded his style dramatically. He maintained the jazz foundation of his playing, but began experimenting with different textures and soundscapes through using different keyboard sounds and external effects, such as delay and ring modulation. It was this electronica – jazz – rock mixture that became the cornerstone of the OM Trio sound.
In 2004, OM Trio disbanded and Felix landed in Chicago, where he lives today with his wife, Bridget. In the spring of 2007, Brian completed his Masters degree at DePaul University, and is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Illinois. Outside of school, Felix is an active part of the Chicago music scene. In addition to performing in various solo and small group jazz settings he collaborates with Drop Q, and Orange Alert. When he isn’t studying or performing, Felix is involved in the greater Chicago music scene in other ways: He teaches piano and improvisation privately to students of all ages and is one of the executive directors of Keys 4 Kids, a non-profit organization that donates instruments to under-funded public schools.
Check out a recent article here: http://the217.com/articles/view/ivory_keys_and_music_degrees
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