Alex Bugnon

As the nephew of trumpeter Donald Byrd, contemporary jazz keyboardist Alex Bugnon spent his early years attending the Montreux Jazz Festival in his Swiss hometown. He studied for two years at the Paris Conservatory of Music, after which he relocated to the United States and enrolled at the Berklee School of Music while also accompanying gospel ensembles. Four years of session work in New York followed, during which he supported urban and jazz acts such as Patti Austin, Freddie Jackson, James Ingram, and Keith Sweat. Orpheus Records signed him, leading to the 1989 release of his debut album Love Season, which entered the pop charts and reached the R&B Top 40; the same chart success greeted its successor, Head Over Heels, issued in 1990. His next projects—107 Degrees in the Shade (1991), This Time Around (1993), and Tales From the Bright Side (1995), the final one appearing on RCA Records—likewise registered on the R&B charts. Following a five-year hiatus from solo releases, Bugnon joined the jazz roster of Narada Records, where the label positioned him as a jazz artist; his sixth album, Alex Bugnon...As Promised, accordingly appeared on the contemporary jazz charts. Soul Purpose arrived in 2001.