In May I’ll tour Japan with two great friends from Brazil, Vinicius Cantuaria and Dadi. We recently played three nights in Rio and had a great time. I look forward to seeing everybody in Japan again soon! – Jesse

American Songwriter magazine premiered “Borne Away,” the title track from my new album (coming in June) on their website.

You can check it out here:
http://www.americansongwriter.com/2013/04/jesse-harris-borne-away/

In Paris on May 14, Bill Dobrow (percussion), Anthony Wilson (guitar), and I will perform two sets at Club Sunset. My album Sub Rosa, which Bill co-produced with me in Rio, is finally coming out in France and the rest of Europe through Cristal Records and this will be our first show to promote the release.

From Paris I’ll go on to do two shows with a new project with John Zorn, called the Song Project. He invited me, Mike Patton, Sofia Rei, and Sean Lennon to write lyrics for compositions of his, which Mike, Sofia, and I will sing at various concerts and festivals throughout the rest of 2013. The backing band will be incredible: Kenny Wollesen, Marc Ribot, John Medeski, Trevor Dunn, and Joey Baron. Through Zorn’s universe in the past, I’ve had the opportunity to do so much, from releasing an instrumental album (Cosmo) on his label Tzadik; to programming two weeks of music at his club The Stone last June; and writing a piece for the most recent installment of his Arcana books (VI) – not to mention various performances around New York City. The Song Project, however, is the first time that we’ve written anything in collaboration. The debut show will be May 17 at the Moers Festival in Germany and the second May 19 at the Victoriaville Festival in Quebec.

UPCOMING SHOWS

May 14 – Club Sunset // Paris, France
(with Bill Dobrow and Anthony Wilson)

May 17 – Moers Festival // Germany
(with John Zorn “The Song Project”)

May 19 – Victoriaville // Quebec
(with John Zorn “The Song Project”)

May 24-June 5 – Japan tour with Vincius Cantuaria and Dadi
(dates announced soon!)

July 13 – Northsea Jazz Festival // Netherlands
(with John Zorn “The Song Project”)

July 14 – Gent Jazz Festival // Belgium
(with John Zorn “The Song Project”)

July 15 – Warsaw Summer Jazz Days // Poland
(with John Zorn “The Song Project”)

ANOTHER NYC GUITAR TRIO SHOW

Julian Lage, Anthony Wilson and I had such a good time at our last performance at Rockwood Music Hall, that we are reuniting again for a performance at Cornelia Street Cafe March 26, on a double bill with the wildly talented young singer/guitarist/songwriter Margaret Glaspy. Julian, Anthony and I will again be performing mostly songs from my forthcoming album, whose official title is nowBorne Away, which will be released on my own Secret Sun Recordings label this June. Details about that will be coming soon. Please join us at Cornelia Street Cafe for a night of great music.

THREE NIGHTS IN RIO

For those of you living in Brazil, I will play three nights in Rio at Club Vizta in the Marina Palace Hotel, April 4-6 in a trio with Vinicius Cantuaria and Dadi. Although I’ve collaborated with both of these amazing musicians before, this will be our first time performing as a trio. Dadi played bass on my last album Sub Rosa, and co-wrote the song “Rocking Chairs” with me. Vinicius also appeared as a guest on the album, playing percussion, and we co-wrote a song called “This Time,” which I sang on his latest albumIndio de Apartamento. These shows will be a warm-up for our upcoming tour of Japan in May.

See you soon!

All the best,
Jesse

UPCOMING SHOWS

March 26 - Cornelia Street Cafe // NYC
(with Julian Lage and Anthony Wilson)

April 4-6 - Vizta, Rio de Janeiro // Brazil
(with Vinicius Cantuaria and Dadi)

April 15 - Rockwood Music Hall // NYC
(with Bill Dobrow)

May 14 - Club Sunset // Paris, France
(with Bill Dobrow and Anthony Wilson)

May 17 - Moers Festival // Germany
(with John Zorn “The Song Project”)

May 19 - Victoriaville // Quebec
(with John Zorn “The Song Project”)

May 24-June 5 – Japan tour with Vincius Cantuaria and Dadi
(dates announced soon!)

July 13 - Northsea Jazz Festival // Netherlands
(with John Zorn “The Song Project”)

July 14 - Gent Jazz Festival // Belgium
(with John Zorn “The Song Project”)

July 15 - Warsaw Summer Jazz Days // Poland
(with John Zorn “The Song Project”)

Thursday, February 21st at 8:30pm I’ll play a special acoustic guitar trio show at Rockwood Music Hall (stage 2) with two incredible players, Julian Lage and Anthony Wilson. We’ve only performed one other time, which was a private house concert in January. It was so much fun that we decided to do it again. All the songs will be from a new solo acoustic album that I just finished, titled Glass Boxes, Vol. 1. Solo acoustic is a slight misnomer, in fact, because I added various overdubs of organ, casio keyboard, kalimba, glockenspiel, and backing vocals. Look for a release sometime this year. Hope to see you at the show!

Jesse

Happy Holidays.

The year began and ended in Rio – at the beginning with the completion of my album Sub Rosa and at the end with a show in a small underground club called Comuna. That show was supposed to be in a big venue called Vivo Rio, opening for Norah Jones, but as many of you know already, her father, the great sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar, passed away at the age of 92 during our South American tour. Norah returned to States immediately, canceling the last three shows. I once had the opportunity to see Ravi perform, about 7 or 8 years ago at Carnegie Hall, and it was one of the most beautiful concerts of music I’ve ever heard. His articulation of the individual notes was so clear and expressive that each could seem to weep, or to dance.

I will have one last show in New York this year, on Sunday December 23 at Rockwood Music Hall. Since I’ve performed so much lately as a duo with Bill Dobrow, this show will also be duo, with me on acoustic nylon string guitar and Billy playing the rebolo, a drum from Brazil. We’re going to do a number of songs from Sub Rosa, as well as some new ones from a new album I’ve recorded by myself (solo acoustic with overdubs) in New York, which is tentatively titled Glass Boxes, Vol.1.

Here are some photos from the South American tour. View more in the photo gallery.

For the Holiday season, Sub Rosa is available on sale through the Dangerbird website. You can read more about that album and see some videos at jesseharrismusic.com.

Onwards to 2013,
Jesse

On December 23rd I’ll be playing once again at Stage 2 of Rockwood Music Hall. Set time is 9:15pm and I hope to see you there!

For those of you in the tri-state area, I hope that you made it through Hurricane Sandy safely. I was born in New York and I’ve never seen anything like it. Although I lost power, I was able to move up to my mom’s for the week, thus avoiding the agony many of my friends went through trying to find food, warmth, and places to recharge their phones. Unfortunately, two places I love, where I spent some memorable times this past summer, Red Hook, Brooklyn and Far Rockaway, Queens, were of the hardest hit. It’s painful to see the damage that was caused, but I have faith that everything will be rebuilt, and I hope that power and shelter are restored soon to everyone in those areas.

In The Rockaways, where the food situation is dire, there’s a truck giving away great free meals. You can donate to that here. To donate specifically to Red Hook, go here: restoreredhook.org.

In 2001 I released an album called Crooked Lines, with a song called “Rockaway.” I see it as a song about courage in the face of adversity. The lyrics seem appropriate today, and I wanted to share it with you.

The last thing I want to tell you about is that on November 21st at 8pm, the night before Thanksgiving, I’ll play a show with my band (Bill Dobrow, Guilherme Monteiro, Jeff Hill and Maycon Ananias) at Rockwood Music Hall. I’d love to see you there if you can make it!

Best Wishes,
Jesse

On November 21 at 8pm I’ll perform at Rockwood Music Hall stage 2 with Bill Dobrow and Maycon Ananias! You can buy tickets in advance for $10.

I’ll be playing two shows at City Winery in New York City with Shawn Colvin on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26. Tickets are on sale now!