Brett started playing music at the age of 2, piano at 4. His early influences in music were funk, gospel and jazz, and he was always interested in improvisation. By the time he was 9, Brett was performing locally; by his teens, he was making a name for himself on the Pittsburgh jazz scene. Brett became an in-demand pianist throughout greater Pittsburgh, and he frequently played, recorded and produced with great musicians including Dwayne Dolphin, Sean Jones, Roger Humphries and Poogie Bell. In 2010, Brett studied jazz and classical music with outstanding musicians such as Sean Jones at Duquesne University, where he also earned many solo performance awards before graduating.

In 2012, Brett won the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival competition, performing with a band he co-founded, Elevations, which led to him to performing at the 55th Monterey Jazz Festival later that year. In 2013, he began working with the multi-Grammy-award-winning bassist Marcus Miller. Brett has now been touring with Marcus for three years and is featured on his latest Grammy-nominated recording, Afrodeezia.