Jesse Harris

June 8, 2008

Winner of the 2003 Song of the Year Grammy for Norah Jones’ single “Don’t Know Why” (he penned the hit tune), Jesse Harris may still be riding on that success, and rightfully so - but he’s also a lot more than one hit song would indicate.
In addition to his songwriting for Jones, Harris’ folk-pop songs have been covered by several other class acts, including Pat Metheny and Madeleine Peyroux; and he worked with actor Ethan Hawke on the soundtrack for Hawke’s film, The Hottest State, composing and producing the set, in which more of Harris’ songs are interpreted by Emmylou Harris, Feist, Bright Eyes, The Black Keys, and Willie Nelson, among others.
“Ethan and I have known each other for a long time,” Harris explains. “He needed original songs for a character in his film and called me up to write them. Then the idea developed of asking all these artists that we loved to cover songs of mine for the soundtrack, and we ended up with a wealth of great tracks.”
Harris has a tune in another current movie, too - Forgetting Sarah Marshall - which quietly features his song “The Secret Sun” within the context of the film, an impetus for fans to purchase the soundtrack album to hear the song in its entirety.
“Film soundtracks are a good way to reach new people and to let songs have a different kind of life,” Harris says.

A NEW FEEL
And that’s still not where Harris’ talents end. Recorded in just a few days, he’s also now the proud proprietor of his latest full-length CD, Feel - the follow-up to his pensive 2006 release, Mineral. Feel was tracked in NYC’s Lower East Side at Loho Studios, and was a bit of a departure from Harris’ usual sound.
“It was definitely an exciting album to make,” he enthuses. “I would describe the sound as singer-songwriter with a more rhythmic accompaniment underneath.”
Much of that accompaniment was inspired by Brazilian music, the rhythms and textures of which had long intrigued Harris; he recruited percussionist Mauro Refosco to work with him on the disc, and the direction of the album became clear. Harris and Refosco discussed actually recording in Rio, with Brazilian musicians; but after they contemplated the time commitment of such a move - in their estimation, a couple of months - they decided to stay closer to home, hence the work at Loho. That decision probably made it a lot easier to plan out touring, too, without having to have an entire Brazilian musical entourage in tow.

LIVE AND BEYOND
Appearing at Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Academy as part of their eclectic summer concert series, Harris will be performing with percussionist Robert Di Pietro, and he says he’ll be playing only the six-string banjo, which should make for a quirky and personal set.
“I’ve performed in Michigan before - in Ann Arbor,” Harris remembers, “but it’s been a while. I know some people who have gone to camp at Interlochen, though.”
His Interlochen set will include plenty of songs from Feel, a couple from The Hottest State soundtrack, some older tunes, and even a few from his next album, which is already in the recording stages; after some short touring stints this summer, Harris will return to the studio to mix his next disc, and play more local (local, for him, being New York City) shows. As for the Interlochen show, Harris hopes fans will show up ready to listen and enjoy.
“I have no expectations other than to have a good time playing,” he says with a smile.
Jesse Harris will be performing at 8 p.m. at Interlochen’s Corson Auditorium on June 20. More info and tickets ($25.00) can be found at www.interlochen.org, or by calling the Box Office at 800-681-5920.