Organist, pianist and composer Emmanuel Bex was born in Caen on June 8, 1959. The son of pianists, he studied music at the Conservatoire de Caen, graduating with several first prizes in piano, bassoon and chamber music. He continued his studies at the Paris Conservatoire, where he took solfeggio, harmony and musical analysis between 1973 and 1976, before working as an accompanist at the Bordeaux Conservatoire. Influenced by Eddy Louiss, he specialized in the Hammond B3 organ and began recording with various groups, including La Bande à Badault in 1987. In 1988, he formed a trio with Jean-Luc Pino and Yves Teslar for Triple Idiome, followed by the Bex'Tet of the album Organique (1993) and the BFG, with Glenn Ferris and Simon Goubert, of Here and Now! (2001). Under his name were recorded 3 (1999), Jazz(s) (2002), Organ Song (2006) and Open Gate (2009). Also in 2009, the album The Translators brought together Bex, Pietro Tonolo, Flavio Boltro and Joe Chambers, before a tribute to Béla Bartók on a new Open Gate (2011), with the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie conducted by Franck Tortiller. Two years later, he pays tribute to Bill Evans in B2Bill, with Nico Morelli and Mike Ladd. Awarded a Victoire du Jazz in 2002, Emmanuel Bex continues to expand his discography with La Belle Vie, featuring Philip Catherine and Aldo Romano in 2019, followed by Fleurette Africaine - Trois Ténors pour Bex et Goubert (2020) and Eddy M'A Dit (2025), in reference to his master.
