JESSE HARRIS
with guest artist SWATI
Cedar Rapids debut | Four years ago, he wrote half the songs on Norah Jones' Don't Know Why, in the process winning the Grammy Award for Song of the Year. (A neat trick there, beating out Bruce Springsteen, Alan Jackson and Avril Lavigne.)
This August, he was the man behind The Hottest State, arguably the best soundtrack album to appear in a decade. Working closely with director Ethan Hawke, Jesse Harris wrote every song on the soundtrack, which were then performed by the likes of Willie Nelson, Cat Power, Feist, M. Ward, Bright Eyes, Emmylou Harris, Rocha, Brad Mehldau, Harris himself and, yes, Norah Jones.
Based on those facts alone, you'd be right to conclude that Harris is one of the most impressive and accomplished songwriters to emerge in years — a great talent whose songs have also been recorded by Madeleine Peyroux, Pat Metheny and Lizz Wright.
That Jesse Harris is, in addition, a terrific performer and interpreter of his own work is confirmed by Feel, his latest solo album. By turns intimate and romantic, wistful and humorous, the album creates a crisp yet laidback groove, conjuring up a deep atmosphere whose elements may be simple, but whose pictures, stories and impact are as distinctive as the man who composed them.
Opening | A true product of the New York scene, Swati is a disarming lyricist without pretension, and a fiery guitarist who can make your jaw drop. Guitar Player magazine celebrates her "nasty blasts of wildly distorted, low octave enhanced metallic mayhem," while the Boston Globe observes, "Banging out riffs like a punk flamenco player, Swati's introspective lyrics are also rough and tumble, a gritty reflection of New York's lower East Side."
Thu Sep 13 | 8 pm
CSPS | 1103 Third St SE | Cedar Rapids
$15 advance | $18 day of show

Ticket info
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