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), his Herbie Hancock/Head Hunters tribute Vein Melter (Tru Thoughts, 2015) — jointly created with producer/multi-instrumentalist Sly5thAve — and most recently, the Cross Currents EP (self-released, 2019), featuring drummer Nate Smith and saxophonist Marcus Strickland. 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, out August 7, 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, Gregoire Marét, 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, 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).
Ever prolific and versatile, Fischer also has many years’ experience as a producer and songwriter in the indie-pop, soul, and singer-songwriter genres. Fischer’s credits as a producer, engineer, and songwriter include Morgan James, Laura Izibor, Elise Testone, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Samora Pinderhughes, Justin Brown, BIGYUKI, and many others. Fischer’s remixes for artists such as Emily King, Gregory Porter, Hiatus Kaiyote, Space Captain, and Takuya Kuroda have been spun on dancefloors and parties all across the globe, from Singapore to Amsterdam to South Africa to London. He is also a passionate educator with experience teaching music and music production to young people of all ages, in both a private and classroom setting.