| Today original music tends to fall into two camps popular and academic. There are those that write purely for the purposes of making money and those that write purely for the sake of complexity. Jesse Gelber’s music is the rare exception that combines the sophistication of academic knowledge with the accessibility of American Popular Song. Jesse holds a Master’s in jazz theory from Rutgers University and a Bachelor’s in jazz performance and composition from the New England Conservatory of Music. Jesse has lectured on topics like Bitonality for the Music Theory Society of New York State, he teaches seminars on the history of jazz and blues piano at the National Guitar Workshop, and he teaches courses on music theory at Rutgers University. Despite Jesse’s academic background his music tends to be melodic and memorable. His work has been sung and played by Theodore Bikel, Hal Linden, and The Massachusetts Springfield Symphony. He won a 1997 ASCAP Foundation -- Morton Gould Young Composer Award for his Opera, Broad Stripes and Bright Stars, which was showcased January of 2002 at La MaMa theater. He was the musical director for both the 50th Anniversary of Israel Concert in Boston’s Symphony Hall, and A Delhi-Mix performed at Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. Jesse has written arrangements for several broadcast performances including A Taste of Passover and The Chanukah Special, both of which were shown on PBS Television.
Jesse’s song “Boston in the Rain” is the featured track on Julian Yeo’s new critically acclaimed CD Old New Borrowed Blue. “Boston in the Rain” has been sung and recorded by many artists including Jesse, whose own vocal style has been compared to Jelly Roll Morton and Dave Van Ronk. In addition to his own songs, Jesse likes to sing obscure blues and novelty numbers.
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