Biography
Eliott received his first private guitar lessons at the age of 6 that. He first approached the world of rock (The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Dire Straits, etc.) then turned to jazz at the age of 12 .
He first trained with Peter Hertmans and Bert Cools, while he was still in high school (Kunsthumaniora Brussel). During his school career, he obtained the status of “TOP-Artist” by the culture department of Brussels.
In addition to school, Eliott was admitted as a “young talent” to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.
At 16, he had the chance to play with Wynton Marsalis during one of his tours in Europe. The trumpet player spotted him and invited him for a session organized by the Jazz at Lincoln Center broadcasted from Dizzy’s Club in New York.
At the age of 17, Eliott Knuets recorded his first album with Stéphane Guillaume as special guest. Eliott was then invited by the Brussels Jazz Orchestra in “De Werf” (Aalst).
As soon as his album was released, Eliott’s career took off: he performed on the stages of BOZAR, Flagey, Bimhuis, the Grand-Place of Brussels, Brosella, the Getxo Jazz Festival, the Leuven Jazz festival, the River Jazz Festival, Djangofolies, the Athens Jazz Festival, …
In 2022, he began his studies at the Jazz Campus in Basel, Switzerland, where he had the chance to study with masters such as Lionel Loueke, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Lage Lund, Jeff Ballard, Mark Turner, Larry Grenadier, Jorge Rossy, …
That same year, Eliott was invited by the Swiss Embassy for a private concert in front of President Ignazio Cassis and King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium.
In March 2023 Eliott was named “young artist in residence” at the Leuven Jazz Festival and had the chance to perform with the famous pianist Aaron Parks.
In April 2023, the Knuets/Secula quartet was selected for the finals of the international jazz competition “Keep an Eye” in Amsterdam. They won the prize for best arrangement.
Eliott also had the chance to be invited by Jorge Rossy for a trio, with whom he already performed in Belgium and Switzerland
In the same year, he already recorded 3 albums as a sideman (Noé Sécula, Gerard Chumilla, Javier Rojo) for the famous jazz label “Fresh Sound Records” and went touring multiple times in France and Spain for the release of the projects.
Eliott is currently studying his master’s degree and is also focusing a lot on writing and composing music and has the chance to study weekly with the great Ambrose Akinmusire.