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Felix Lemerle

Félix Lemerle is a jazz guitarist & composer living in Brooklyn, New York.

Growing up in his native Paris, he was exposed to music at an early age thanks to his father, a jazz bass player. Initially trained as a classical pianist, he shifted his attention to guitar and jazz music in his teens, and started performing in France and Europe in various clubs and festivals. After graduating from the CRR de Paris with a Degree in Jazz & Improvised Music, he moved to New York City as a Fulbright Scholar to complete his Master in Jazz Performance at CUNY Queens College. There he quickly established himself on the scene, performing, recording and touring with some of the foremost musicians in the world. He graduated from The Juilliard School with an Artist Diploma in Jazz Studies.

A highly in-demand guitarist, Félix has performed internationally in venues & festivals such as Carnegie Hall, Chris' Jazz Cafe, BLU Jazz+, Dirty Dog, Fat Cat, Jazz in Marciac, Sunset/Sunside, Duc des Lombards, Vibrato, The Nash, The Jazz Corner & Highlights in Jazz, sharing the stage with luminary musicians such as Jimmy Cobb, Freddie Redd, Buster Williams, Ari Roland, Tardo Hammer, Steve Turre, Brian Lynch, Chris Byars, Peter & Will Anderson, Don Hahn, Ned Goold, Dominick Farinacci, John Mosca, Veronica Swift, Cyrille Aimée, Chuck Redd, Michael Valeanu, Ed Howard, Scott Robinson, René Urtreger, Jon-Erik Kellso, Joe Cohn, Luigi Grasso, etc.

Félix works regularly in New York with his own groups, including the collaborative band RAISE FOUR. He has won the 1st prize at the Eddie Lang Guitar Contest 2012 in Italy, and the 2nd prize at the Jarek Śmietana Guitar Competition 2015 in Poland (jury included John Abercrombie, Mike Stern & Ed Cherry). He appears on albums by Peter & Will Anderson, Samuel Lerner, Neil Saidi, Nathan Brown & Yoav Trifman. His debut album « Blues For The End Of Time » (2022, Tzim Tzum Records) features Jimmy Cobb, Bertha Hope, Ari Roland & Samuel Lerner, and showcases Félix's profound artistry of the guitar and exceptional compositional skills.

Awards

2nd prize Jarek Śmietana Guitar Competition

2015 Fulbright Scholar 2014

1st prize Eddie Lang Guitar Contest 2012


Tags

“Young Félix Lemerle [...] swings easily and with a natural grace, has a deep repertoire of memorable songs, has a real respect for melody and interesting harmonies that don’t distort the original, and gets a lovely sound from his guitar. He’s not a reactionary who’s devoted his life to copying old records, so he sounds happily like himself […].” – Michael Steinman, Jazz Lives

Primary Instrument

Guitar

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Blues For The End Of...

Tzim Tzum Records
2023

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Fall's Start

Gut String Records / Black & Blue
2019

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Nu Yo

Gut String Records
2018

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Wind Power

Gut String Records
2018

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New York Sessions

Gut String Records
2017

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Videos

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