Brian Kelly
is an American composer, pianist, and producer creating music in a
variety of genres, including Contemporary Instrumental, Contemporary
Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Smooth Jazz, Neo-Classical, and New Age.
In 2005 he released his debut album of piano instrumentals,
Pools of
Light, on his own Skylight Music label. The album charted #1
for two months on modern instrumental radio in North America and was
voted Top 10 Best New Age Albums of 2004 by Kathy Parsons (MainlyPiano.com).
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 transcriptions and solo
piano arrangements of 11 tracks from his ''Pools of Light'' CD.
Brian’s second CD of piano-based instrumental music,
Afterplay
(released in 2008), heads into upbeat contemporary jazz territory with
strong melodies, fluid chops, and richly detailed arrangements. The
album includes the world-renowned talents of Eric Crystal on sax (Boz
Scaggs, Omar Sosa), David Rokeach on drums (Aretha Franklin, Ray
Charles), Viviana Guzman on flute, James Robinson on guitar, and
other fine musicians.
Born in New York City, Brian grew up in Palo Alto, California. He began
piano at age 8, creating pieces for his mother, who played classical
piano at home and violin for a community opera company. At age 10 he
recalls listening endlessly to side two of the Beatles ‘Abbey Road’ and
a recording of Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto. His experience as a
stage actor and performer in dozens of plays and musical theatre
productions at TheatreWorks 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.
Brian Kelly is winner of the
Keyboard Magazine
Soundpage Award for his original composition “Todd Pond” (1990). His
music receives national and international airplay from radio stations
and satellite music networks around the world. Brian is a graduate of
Hampshire College, and a voting member of the Recording Academy. He
resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.