He basically shut me in a room with a beginning tuba book and mostly left me to my own devices until I was ready to rejoin the ensemble.

[5] Oakland's music department included a strong jazz faculty staffed largely with active professionals from the Detroit area.

In 1991 he said:...it was at Oakland University, thinking that I would play with a symphony someday, that I took the jazz ensemble course with Doc Holladay, Sam Sanders and especially Herbie Williams, who was a great early influence on me.

[2]Felt participated in the jazz workshop led by trumpeter Marcus Belgrave[2] and formed a musical partnership with saxophonist Steve Wood (a fellow Oakland student) that would continue for 35 years.

Abe Woodley), Roy Brooks, Kenny Cox, Wendell Harrison, Frank Isola, Phil Lasley, Bud Spangler, Donald Walden, A. Spencer Barefield, Ed Nuccilli and many others.

In addition to frequent work in Detroit-area nightclubs, Felt's performances were regularly featured at the annual Detroit International Jazz Festival.

He started writing jazz tunes soon after he began playing the music, eventually generating over 60 compositions – Many of which were featured in live performances as well as on his recordings.

[3]In 1989, the quintet Felt co-led with Steve Wood travelled to California for a performance at the Hollywood Palace as a finalist in the Hennessy Cognac Jazz Search competition.

[8] Around 1990, the Steve Wood/Brad Felt Quintet was featured as part of the Detroit-area cable TV series Jazz Masters-Keepers of the Flame.

Supporting Felt were Steve Wood and James Carter (reeds), Rob Pipho (vibes), Kenny Cox (piano), Jaribu Shahid (bass) and Danny Spencer (drums).

It showcased performances by Felt on tuba, euphonium and baritone horn, Gary Schunk on piano, Jaribu Shahid on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums.

He played euphonium on all eight songs, supported by Steve Wood (tenor and soprano sax), Gary Schunk (piano), Nick Calandro (bass) and Bill Higgins (drums).

In a remembrance for the Metro Times, W. Kim Heron said:Brad was a master of the tuba and its more compact cousin the euphonium...One sign of his prowess is that he had worked (with) Howard Johnson's band Gravity...To get the nod for Gravity's all-tuba-family horn section means a tuba player really has arrived on the national level.

[29]Mark Stryker writing in the Detroit Free Press observed:Felt was a magnificent musician...He took big, cumbersome instruments and made them sound fleet and airborne.

He was a vibrant post-bopper, playing with an expansive harmonic knowledge and no-prisoners attack that could stun an audience into silence.