Jesse Fischer & Soul Cycle

The keyboardist behind Atlantic recording artist 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 hip-hop legends Black Moon. A triple threat as a musician, engineer, and producer, Fischer 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.

Fischer’s group Soul Cycle is crafting a fresh new hybrid sound, with eclectic influences ranging from 70’s-era fusion jazz, Memphis soul, singer-songwriter pop, and psychedelic rock. 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 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.”

Fischer’s eagerly awaited release with Soul Cycle, Homebrew, is available September 27, 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 throughout the U.S. and Europe, and critics are gushing about its “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).