Artist: Jesse Fischer
Album: Resilience
Genre: Fusion, Nu Jazz, Contemporary Jazz
Label: Soul Cycle Music
Released: 2020
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
- Resilience (feat. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah) (05:10)
- Healing (04:09)
- Push/Pull (feat. Becca Stevens) (04:29)
- Reflection Point (feat. Morgan Guerin) (06:23)
- Chorale (03:47)
- Play Date (feat. Billy Buss & Jordan Peters) (06:30)
- The Wanderer (feat. Grégroire Maret) (06:26)
- Same Mistakes (feat. Sarah Elizabeth Charles) (03:07)
- Meditation on Peace (feat. Godwin Louis) (04:49)
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- Personnel:
- Jesse Fischer: piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hammond B-3, Moog Little Phatty, Prophet Rev2, Juno 106, mandolin, voice, percussion
- Billy Buss: trumpet
- Godwin Louis: soprano & alto sax
- Morgan Guerin: tenor sax, EWI (“Reflection Point”), drums (“Healing”, “The Wanderer”)
- Jordan Peters: guitar (except “Healing”, “Chorale”)
- David Cutler: bass (except “Chorale”)
- Obed Calvaire: drums (except “Healing”, “The Wanderer”)
- Keita Ogawa: percussion (except “Healing”, “The Wanderer”)
- Mino Cinélu: percussion (“Healing”, “The Wanderer”)
- Daniel Winshall: upright bass (“Chorale”)
- Michael Valeanu: additional guitar (“Play Date”)
with special guests: - Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: trumpet (“Resilience”)
- Becca Stevens: vocals (“Push/Pull”)
- Morgan Guerin: EWI (“Reflection Point”)
- Grégoire Maret: chromatic harmonica (“The Wanderer”)
- Sarah Elizabeth Charles: vocals (“Same Mistakes”)
- Godwin Louis: soprano sax (“Meditation on Peace”)
Pianist/producer/composer Jesse Fischer is proud to announce his latest project Resilience, scheduled for release on August 7, 2020. Comprising nine new original compositions, Resilience explores the connections between groove-based modern jazz, music of the African diaspora, and Fischer’s own Jewish heritage. Featured guests include GRAMMY-nominated trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, vocalists Becca Stevens and Sarah Elizabeth Charles, harmonica master Gregoire Marét, and young lion Morgan Guerin, appearing on tenor sax, EWI, and drums, plus a cameo from master percussionist Mino Cinélu. Notwithstanding its eclectic blend of styles, Resilience presents an underlying narrative reflecting the struggles of our time, ultimately resolving in an urgent call to peace and healing.
Although the project was conceived and recorded prior to the coronavirus pandemic and the national reckoning on race and policing, many of the themes on Resilience remain all too relevant, as the title takes on new meaning in the current context. “A lot of material for this album was inspired by my feeling the world was spinning more and more wildly out of control, ” explains Fischer. “I truly hope this music can bring joy, strength and comfort in these heart-wrenching times, as well as paint a picture of the cycles of oppression we seem to be caught in as a society.”
With seven instrumentals and two songs with lyrics penned by Fischer himself with co-writers Sarah Elizabeth Charles and May Cheung, Resilience 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. “I wrote most of this new material soon after becoming a father, ” explains Fischer. “I was overcome with joy and gratitude at home, yet I was witnessing the outer world crumble into fear, xenophobia and ignorance, watching dictatorships replace democracies, ongoing state-sanctioned violence against African Americans, and the gulf between political and ethnic groups growing wider and more insurmountable.”
This odd juxtaposition led Fischer to reflect deeply about his identity as a Jewish American and the messages he wanted to pass on as a father and as a musician and creator. “I’ve always felt a double consciousness in being Jewish, ” muses Fischer. “Growing up, I enjoyed all the privileges of being grouped with the majority here in the U.S. However, I can’t forget that I’m descended from people who have been oppressed over thousands and thousands of years, never really having a home nation, and so I take that knowledge as a call to action, to empathize and fight for people who are going through the same kinds of struggles that my ancestors went through — immigrants, asylum seekers, victims of police violence and discrimination in housing, jobs, education, and the justice system.”
Throughout Resilience, Fischer blends the expressiveness and group interplay of modern jazz with the restraint and sound palette of a pop record — all underpinned by a joyful, folkloric approach to groove and rhythm. Some of Fischer’s compositions feature soaring, hymnlike melodies (“Healing”, “Chorale”), while others carry the playfulness of childlike wonder (“Play Date”, “Meditation on Peace”). All convey a sophisticated approach to harmony informed both by the rich voice-leading of Western classical music and the extended harmonic ideas of contemporary gospel music.
Resilience is as much a producer’s album as a pianist’s album — Fischer shines in the producer role, both in his expert layering of woozy, analog synths, vintage keyboards, and acoustic instruments, and in assembling and directing his team of gifted and selfless side musicians. “I’m not a flashy soloist, ” states Fischer. “I just like to write beautiful melodies that will stay with you, make you feel something, and to craft the perfect setting for those melodies, whether it’s piano trio, a larger ensemble, or layers of overdubs.” For this project, Fischer tapped his wide network to assemble a working group featuring trumpeter Billy Buss, saxophonist Godwin Louis, drummer Obed Calvaire, electric bassist David Cutler, guitarist Jordan Peters, and percussionist Keita Ogawa. In addition, Fischer also wears the hat of audio engineer, painstakingly crafting beautiful mixes that are as much a part of the sound as his supple playing.