Brian Kelly (composer & pianist)

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Brian Kelly

Background information
Born 1960
Flag of the United States.svg New York City, U.S.
Genres jazz fusion / contemporary jazz / smooth jazz / New Age
Instruments Piano
Years active 1990 - present
Labels Skylight Music
Website www.briankelly.com
For other persons named Brian Kelly, see Brian Kelly (disambiguation).

Brian Kelly (b. March 16, 1960) is an American composer, pianist, and producer creating music in the jazz fusion, contemporary jazz, New Age genres.

Contents

[edit] Career

Brian Kelly is winner of the Keyboard Magazine Soundpage Award for his original composition "Todd Pond".[1] In 2005 he released his debut album of piano instrumentals, Pools of Light, on the Skylight Music label.[2] The album charted #1 for two months on modern instrumental radio in North America.[3][4] Brian was nominated for the NAR (New Age Reporter) Lifestyle Music Artist of the Year award. In 2006 he published Pools of Light: the Solo Piano Songbook, a collection of solo piano arrangements of 11 tracks from his Pools of Light CD. In 2008 Brian released Afterplay, his second CD of piano-based instrumental music.[5] The album charted #3 for three consecutive months on the NAR Top 100 radio Chart. [6][7][8], and was awarded second place in the "Best Instrumental Jazz Album of 2009" category in the Just Plain Folks Music Awards.[9] The album includes the world-renowned talents of Eric Crystal on sax, David Rokeach on drums, Viviana Guzman on flute, and James Robinson on guitar. His music can be heard on Music Choice cable, Sirius XM radio, and on a number of different national TV shows including Travel Channel (The Relic Hunter), and on TV and radio commercials.[10] Brian is a graduate of Hampshire College, and a voting member of the Recording Academy. He resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

[edit] Background

Born in New York City, Brian grew up in Palo Alto, California. He began piano at age 8. His experience as a stage actor and performer in numerous plays and musical theatre productions (at Theatreworks (Silicon Valley) and the Palo Alto Children's Theatre), as well as his four years of singing madrigals in an a cappella group, continue to inform his creative work. He studied music composition at Hampshire College and studied jazz piano with Art Lande.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Compilations

  • 2005 Expect A Miracle, Orange Music [11]
  • 2005 Oasis New Age Sampler V.5, features the song "Open Sky" on disc 1, track #12
  • 2008 Music In Motion: The Best of NewAgePiano.net, features the song "Angels Breathing" on track #19

[edit] Books

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Year's Best Home Tapes", Jim Aikin, Keyboard Magazine, 1990
  2. ^ Pools Of Light CD review at MainlyPiano.com
  3. ^ NAR Radio Chart June 2005
  4. ^ NAR Radio Chart July 2005
  5. ^ Afterplay CD review at MainlyPiano.com
  6. ^ NAR Radio Chart November 2008
  7. ^ NAR Radio Chart December 2008
  8. ^ NAR Radio Chart January 2009
  9. ^ Just Plain Folks Music Award Nominees 2009
  10. ^ "XM Satellite Radio playlist". (xmfan.com). http://www.xmfan.com/guide.php?q=brian+kelly&mode=artist. Retrieved 2009-09-15. 
  11. ^ "Orange Music catalog". Orangemusicnet.com. http://www.orangemusicnet.com/catalogue/album.html?id=173. Retrieved 2006-12-12. 
  12. ^ Just Plain Folks Music Awards 2009, Album Winners
  13. ^ Just Plain Folks Music Awards 2009, Song Nominees

[edit] External links

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