Jesse Harris's music has been described as a "blend [of] folk, rock, jazz, and world rhythms." Harris gave guitar lessons and performed in musical groups before he formed the duo Once Blue with singer-songwriter
Rebecca Martin. This was the first group he was in and his first experience writing for another singer. Once Blue released its self-titled debut on
EMI Records in 1995, and nine additional songs were included in the album's re-release in 2003. Harris signed as a songwriter with
Sony Publishing in 1998 and then made three self-released recordings with his new band, The Ferdinandos, consisting of Harris,
Tony Scherr, Tim Luntzel, and
Kenny Wollesen. The band released two more albums on sublabels of
Verve Records. Harris recorded three solo albums
Mineral,
Feel, and
Watching the Sky on his own label, Secret Sun Recordings. The soundtrack featured new versions of his songs by Jones,
Willie Nelson,
Emmylou Harris,
Feist,
Cat Power,
M. Ward,
The Black Keys,
Bright Eyes,
Brad Mehldau, and Rosario Ortega. Harris's 11th album,
Sub Rosa, recorded in
Rio de Janeiro, was released in July 2012 and features guest vocals from
Conor Oberst,
Melody Gardot, and Norah Jones. Harris's 12th album, the stripped down
Borne Away, was released on June 25, 2013. Harris and Jones appear together in the 2014
David Wain/
Michael Showalter film,
They Came Together, performing his song "It Was the Last Thing on Your Mind", which Harris produced. In 2016, he appeared in Showalter's film
Hello, My Name Is Doris, performing his song, "Anything Was Possible". In 2013, Harris joined
John Zorn's Song Project, along with
Mike Patton,
Sofia Rei, and
Sean Lennon, writing lyrics for various Zorn compositions and singing them at festivals worldwide with a band featuring
Marc Ribot on guitar,
John Medeski on keyboards, and Zorn conducting. Two of the group's albums have been released by
Tzadik Records. Harris continued working with John Zorn in the beginning of the 2020s. Zorn and Harris also collaborated on a project which featured singer and violinist
Petra Haden alongside the
Julian Lage Trio (for whom Harris has produced two albums:
Arclight and
Modern Lore), plus Harris on guitar. The resulting albums,
Music for Petra (Petra Haden Sings the Zorn/Harris Songbook) and
Songs For Petra, were released in 2020 on Tzadik. Most recently, Zorn and Harris wrote a musical,
Love Songs. A live album of the songs, featuring Haden, was released by Tzadik. Harris already worked with Petra Haden as interpreter of his songs; the album
Seemed Like a Good Idea – Petra Haden Sings Jesse Harris released in 2016 on
Sunnyside. Other artists who have recorded Harris's songs include
Smokey Robinson,
George Benson,
Pat Metheny,
Kandace Springs, and
Solomon Burke. Songwriting collaborations have included
Madeleine Peyroux,
Melody Gardot,
Maria Gadú,
Maya Hawke, and
Vinicius Cantuária. Production credits include albums for
Forro in the Dark and
Sasha Dobson. In 2017, Harris formed Cosmo, a group for only his instrumental compositions, with
CJ Camerieri (trumpet, flugelhorn, and French horn), Will Graefe (guitar), Jeremy Gustin (drums),
Benjamin Lazar Davis (bass), Michael Boshcen (trombone), and Harris (guitar). They are currently working on an album with producer
Jason Lader. Harris's album
Aquarelle was recorded in
Lisbon, Portugal, released in September 2018, and features Gustin and Graefe, Ricardo Dias Gomes (bass, keyboards), Petra Haden,
Valerie June,
Sophia Brous,
Thomas Bartlett,
Rob Moose,
Jesse Carmichael,
Marcelo Camelo, and Jason Lader. On
Surpresa, in 2021, Harris closely collaborated again with
Vinicius Cantuária. He continues to work on multiple projects, both as a bandleader and as a producer. In 2022, Harris's Cosmo released the album
But When?, and in 2023,
Spring Song. Other production credits for Harris include albums for Papooz (2024's
Resonate),
Maya Hawke, and Gabi Hartmann. A new solo album,
If You Believed In Me, featuring orchestral arrangements by Maycon Ananias, plus guest appearances by Norah Jones,
Jake Sherman, and Marine Quéméré, was released in November 2025. ==Discography==