The keyboardist behind Irish-Nigerian songstress Laura Izibor, Brooklyn-based Jesse Fischer is an important new voice in jazz and soul music. Appearing with Stevie Wonder on the eve of President Obama’s inauguration, he has also toured the world with Izibor, as well as performing with legendary R&B crooner Freddie Jackson, Afro-European soulster Celia Faussart (from Les Nubians), Broadway star Elisabeth Withers, and indie soul sweetheart N’Dambi. A triple threat as a musician, engineer, and producer, Jesse self-produced and independently released four critically-acclaimed albums with his group Soul Cycle. His television credits include Conan O’Brien, Craig Ferguson, the Mo’Nique Show, BET’s Rising Icons, Jools Holland, 90210, and One Tree Hill.

Jesse’s group Soul Cycle is crafting a fresh new hybrid sound, with eclectic influences ranging from electro jazz, barbecue funk, garage rock, and psychedelic soul. With a strong emphasis on catchy, infectious grooves and memorable melodies, Jesse’s compositions easily cross boundaries between jazz, soul, and pop music, and Soul Cycle has a strong band identity remiscient of 70’s fusion groups like the Headhunters, Weather Report, and Roy Ayers’ Ubiquity. Onaje Allan Gumbs calls the collective, “talented and eclectic musicians who know how to think outside of the box.” Jesse’s partners in soul include alto saxophonist Brian Hogans (Sean Jones), bassist Josh David (Q-Tip), drummer Jerome Jennings (Sonny Rollins), guitarist David Linaburg, and percussionist Shawn Banks.

Jesse’s eagerly awaited upcoming release with Soul Cycle, Homebrew, will be available in September 2011, and features collaborations with Stefon Harris, Gretchen Parlato, Sean Jones, Rogiérs, and Jean Caze. The first single, a cover of Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend” featuring Gretchen Parlato, is already getting airplay on WCLK (Atlanta), WHCR (New York), KSYM (San Antonio), WMPR (Jackson, MS), WTCC (Springfield, MA), as well as Perception FM and Solar Radio in the U.K., and critics are gushing about our “updated, soulful polish” (John Book, thisisbooksmusic.com) and calling it a “charming remake” that’s “jazzy and soulful, with Parlato delivering a mesmerizing vocal performance” (Kim Hines, soulbounce.com).

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Selected Performances

2010 NYC Winter JazzFest (New York, NY)
Blue Note (New York, NY)
Le Poisson Rouge (New York, NY)
Joe’s Pub (New York, NY)
BAMcafé (Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY)
Brooklyn Next Festival (Brooklyn, NY)
New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark, NJ)
New Brunswick Jazz Festival (New Brunswick, NJ)
Churchill Grounds (Atlanta, GA)
Blues Alley (Washington, DC)
Theater Square Cabaret (Pittsburgh, PA)
Nighttown (Cleveland, OH)