Alex Bugnon

A contemporary jazz keyboard player who mixes together funk, R&B, gospel and soul jazz in his music, Alex Bugnon has been a popular performer ever since the beginning of the 1990s. Born in Montreux, Switzerland in 1958, Bugnon is the nephew of trumpeter Donald Byrd. He began playing classical piano at the age of 6 and early on developed a wide taste in music, inspired by his father, who was both a jazz guitarist and an opera singer. Bugnon studied at the Paris Conservatory and the Mozart Academy in Salzburg, Austria. When he was 19, he moved to the United States to attend the Berklee College of Music. In addition to playing with local jazz clubs, Bugnon worked with gospel groups around the Boston area.

In 1985 Bugnon moved to New York where he became a busy session musician, often appearing with R&B stars, including Patti Austin, James Ingram and Earth, Wind and Fire plus Najee and, in the 1990s, Will Downing. He recorded his debut album as a leader in 1989, Love Season, which did well on the pop and R&B charts, as did 1990’s Head Over Heels. Bugnon also recorded 107 Degrees in the Shade, This Time Around and Tales from the Bright Side during 1991-95, making a strong name for himself in R&B. His later albums are considered more contemporary jazz than R&B, including Alex Bugnon … As Promised, Soul Purpose, Southern Living and Free.