Jesse Fischer is a Brooklyn-based pianist, composer, and producer. Known for his warm, soulful touch and emphasis on melody, groove, storytelling and emotion, his unique voice combines elements of his own Jewish heritage with music of the African diaspora, jazz, hip-hop, indie, and singer-songwriter genres. A two-time ASCAP Plus Award winner, Fischer has performed with many notables in the jazz, pop, and world music scenes, including Mino Cinélu, Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Becca Stevens, Grace Kelly, Lakecia Benjamin, Deva Mahal, and Takuya Kuroda. He has released several records as a leader, including Day Dreamer (Ropeadope, 2015) and his Herbie Hancock/Head Hunters tribute Vein Melter (Tru Thoughts, 2015), jointly created with producer/multi-instrumentalist Sly5thAve. He is also a core member of the groundbreaking Brooklyn Afro-pop/jazz fusion collective Ajoyo and producer & engineer of their sophomore release, War Chant.
Fischer’s newest project Resilience, released in August 2020, is a full-length album of original compositions exploring deeper connections between modern jazz, Jewish and African traditional music, and European classical music, and features special guests including Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Becca Stevens, Grégoire Maret, Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Mino Cinélu, and young lion Morgan Guerin, along with his working group of Obed Calvaire (drums), Godwin Louis (alto & soprano sax), Billy Buss (trumpet), David Cutler (bass), Jordan Peters (guitar), and Keita Ogawa (percussion). With seven instrumentals and two songs with lyrics penned by Fischer himself with co-writers Sarah Elizabeth Charles and May Cheung, the album is both deeply personal and necessarily political, responding to the wave of white nationalism, authoritarianism, and hate that has swept the globe in recent years. The compositions on Resilience emerged after a period of intense self-reflection, and range emotionally from despair to resistance to optimism to celebration.
Fischer has brought his unique voice as a composer and bandleader to stages around the world. With over 700,000 plays on Spotify to date, his music has been featured on Spotify’s flagship editorial playlists like State of Jazz, Butter, and Fresh Finds, Apple Music’s Jazz Currents and On the Corner, as well as taste-making radio shows including Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 6), Jeremy Sole (KCRW), Miller Time with legendary bassist/producer Marcus Miller (Sirius/XM) and Wicked Jazz Sounds (Amsterdam).
Supporting Musicians:
Jesse Fischer, piano
Noam Wiesenberg, bass
Keita Ogawa, percussion