Jeremy Bass

Jeremy Bass is the 2015 Grand Prize Winner for Best Jazz Song, Session 1, in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, for his song "New York in Spring." His song "Red Tailed Hawk" was also named Runner Up for Best Folk Song. - John Lennon Songwriting Contest

On his new album, New York In Spring, New York City slinks around Jeremy Bass’s classically trained guitar lines and those same guitar lines return the favor and slink right back.

There’s a lot of slinking going on around here and for good reason: Bass’s new album is a slow dance with a city circled in lights; a sensual tango with a season in full bloom.

The second half of a pair of twin albums devoted to the seasons themselves (Winter Bare preceded this one by two months), New York In Spring is Bass’s masterwork. The Musical Director of the New York-based OBIE Award-winning performing collective, The Secret City, Bass is one of the most intuitive and inventive guitar players around. Taking its inspiration from the classic Bossa Nova albums of the ’50s and ’60s, Bass’s new effort is a long and generous gaze down both the elegant streets of New York City and the bittersweet avenues of the past and trying to figure out what both of them mean.

But while T.S. Eliot found April cruel in its confusing mixture of “memory and desire,” Bass sees no such dilemma. In fact, the warming of the air corresponds with the warming of his spirit and as a result, the songs here are gentle mediations on the thawing of the land and the warming up of the heart.

And with both of those in play, who wouldn’t find solace in a new season?

Bass sure does, and because of this, New York In Spring is one of the most upfliting, graceful and charming albums in recent memory. An elegant confluence of Cole Porter and Sondre Lerche, Bass’s clever worldplay and musical finesse are wonderous things. “Style” is a soulfully precise love letter to New York fashion and architectual igonograpy. “Julia” is an aching ballad of true longing; “Work” is a trumpet-flecked beauty and “Firefly” is a dreamy shuffle that finds Bass marveling, “I don’t know where the stillness comes from.”

It all closes with the lilting title track, which nimbly takes a long walk through the 212, making stops in cafe’s and parks and while birds burst from trees overhead.

It’s a guided tour of the city as much as it is a guided tour of the heart. - Stereo Embers

As I listened to this song, I thought, “Wow, this is one of the coolest songs I’ve heard in a while!” So I’m very please to share this song from Jeremy Bass called “Lift Me Up” from his upcoming album Winter Bare due out April 14.

Some really beautiful guitar voicings open to a dreamy vocal with some surprising developments.

The driving accompaniment in 5/4 leans into the urgency of the lyrics. It’s a bit off kilter, but the song is wrapped up in a warmth that put a smile on my face. I like this song! It’s daring and simple all at the same time.

Bass shares, “I don't like to think that every song has to be a literal expression of experience, but 'Lift Me Up' was a direct transcription of what I was living through at the time that I wrote it. I was lost and heartbroken, and this song was a prayer to whatever forces had landed me there to wash over me, not pass me by, and carry me through."

“‘Lift Me Up’ is the first song I wrote after months of not writing,” says Bass of his isolated existence in the winter of 2013 when he began working on Winter Bare, the first of his two upcoming albums. “It was on one of those dark nights when it was all I could do to keep myself from going crazy,” he remembers. “Winter has always been tough for me, and the winter of 2013 was especially hard.”

Just prior to the creation of Winter Bare, Bass was splitting up with his wife, selling the house they shared together, and toiling away for the third year straight on a debut album that he had become disconnected with by the time it was finally released late last year. Returning to single living in Brooklyn during the intense New York winter of 2013, Bass found himself secluded in an empty house, sifting through his memories.

“I was drinking, I had run out of money, I was nearly unemployed, and certainly unemployable,” he confesses. “But, I had a fireplace and my guitars.” Though Bass was in the grip of despair, he thought that maybe he could write his way out of it and actually change the course of his life in the process.

He has.

“By the end of the winter, I’d fallen in love again, and had a set of songs that wove their way through loneliness, despair and near-insanity, to love and longing, and ultimately hope,” he says.

Unlike Bass’ labored-over debut album, Winter Bare – which arrives on April 14th and will be followed up by an album of Bossa nova-inspired tunes called New York in Spring on June 2nd – is pure and to the point.

Musically, the album bares the influence of musical outlaws such as Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Tom Waits, artists Bass was listening to as he taught himself to play mandolin and banjo, his “divorce gifts” to himself.

“I suppose it’s fitting that the songs on Winter Bare came out after a period of intense suffering in my personal life, followed by unexpected and incredibly joyful personal freedom, and musical exploration,” Bass concludes. - Guitar World

Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Jeremy Bass is set to release his latest LP Winter Bare next week, but before it officially lands, Exclaim! has got the premiere of the album's title track.

Winter Bare is the first of two records that Bass will deliver this year, and the music on it was inspired by falling in love again for the first time after a devastating divorce.

"I thought that feeling was dead in me for a long time," he said in a statement about the new record. "But then suddenly, without looking for it, it reappeared when I least expected it."

"I was drinking, I had run out of money, I was nearly unemployed, and certainly unemployable," he continues. "But, I had a fireplace and my guitars. By the end of the winter, he had a set of songs that wove their way through loneliness, despair and near-insanity, to love and longing, and ultimately hope."

That hope can be heard shining through on the soft, piano and acoustic guitar-driven title track. Female vocal harmonies, mandolin and peppy percussion add some extra brightness throughout the tune.

Winter Bare arrives on April 14, but you can listen to the titular tune in the player below, right now. - exclaim.ca

Jeremy Bass, a Brooklyn based songwriter, poet and classically trained guitarist wrote this album during the fierce New York winter of 2013. He was nursing a broken heart.
“I was drinking, I had run out of money, I was nearly unemployed and certainly unemployable,” he confessed. “But I had my fireplace and my guitars.” Bass was listening to Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and Tom Waits as he composed the album. He also taught himself to play mandolin and banjo. It may have been forged in ice and despair but the music is redolent of spring.

“Red Tailed Hawk” with its gentle percussion and warm trumpet playing is one such sunny track. The piano playing and descending chord sequence are reminiscent of Nick Drake at his melancholy best. The soaring imagery of this piece takes us from the Waits’ influenced despair of the opening track “Introduction, Shoreline.”

“Coastline” is another standout track which shows off Bass’s harmonic intelligence. And the brilliant single “Lift Me Up” has a gentle epic quality to it, enhanced by great harmonies, tasty piano fills and uplifting trumpet playing. The title track has Bass harmonizing beautifully with Anne McCain, backed by the understated marvel that is his band. “One More Cigarette” sounds like a forgotten track from The Band’s Music from Big Pink. A life affirming keyboard descent leads to a chorus that already sounds like a classic. “Coming Back Home” opens with an a cappella verse before the fantastic band joins in.

The whole album sounds like Bass has come home. “By the end of the winter, I’d fallen in love again,” he explained, “and had a set of songs that wove their way through loneliness, despair and near insanity, to love and longing and ultimately hope.” Bass has a Tim Buckley-like purity to his voice, and there’s a warmth and grace to the production here that does justice to the quality of the music. Winter Bare is a stunner!

— Rosa Redoz - Sing Out!

“Recording songs about spring in the middle of winter was the last thing I wanted to do,” says Brooklyn-based songwriter Jeremy Bass, of the creation of his upcoming New York In Spring, the second in a pair of bookended seasonal records that he is releasing in the first half 2015. Winter Bare arrived on April 14th and New York In Spring is scheduled for a June 9th release. We’re pleased to give you an advance listed to NYIS via our premiere of the track “Firefly” – check it out: - BLURT

Brooklyn-based classically trained guitarist Jeremy Bass has teamed up with GroundSounds to premiere “New York in Spring,” the title track taken from his upcoming seasonally-based record.

‘New York In Spring’ arrives June 9th and is a collection of Bossa nova-inspired tunes featuring Bass’ live band, it was influenced by the great Bossa nova composer Jobim and Brazilian guitar masters Luis Bonfa and Baden Powell.

Check out our exclusive interview with Jeremy Bass and stream “New York in Spring” below.



For those just discovering Jeremy Bass, can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got started in music?

I started playing music pretty much as soon as I could talk. I refused to leave daycare most afternoons because I insisted on playing with a tiny little Casio keyboard, so my parents bought me one for home and it all went downhill from there. I played a lot of different instruments, including twelve years of classical piano, before falling in love with the guitar. I’ve clearly never been able to limit myself to only one thing~~as soon as I knew enough chords to hack through my favorite Nirvana songs, I started wanting to imitate the sounds I heard on Zeppelin records, flamenco guitar, and Miles Davis. Studying classical guitar was my way out of any kind of traditional college, and I jumped at the opportunity, and fell in love with the nylon string guitar along the way. But playing classical music~~trying to craft perfect interpretations of other people’s music and execute them perfectly on stage~~was not really my idea of a good time. I wanted to write and play my own music, in particular to really work at writing great songs, which is what brought me to New York City and eventually resulted in my first LP, Tenant, and then these two new EPs, Winter Bare and New York In Spring.

Soothingly chill and mellow, we love the vibes of your bossa nova inspired single “New York in Spring,” can you tell us about bringing this track to fruition?

I direct music for an performance collective called The Secret City. In our early years, before we were a bi~coastal organization performing for hundreds of people each month, we set up shop in a rehearsal space on 14th Street and played to a group of ten people or so. Each month the theme would change~~Style, Money, Ancestors~~and it was my job to write a new tune each month. New York in Spring came out of a Spring theme, in my early years in NYC when I was just falling in love with the city for the first time. I played the song solo for years~~when I put together the band for our first show, Matt and Brian (Matthew Vitti plays drums and Brian Holtz plays bass on the record) found this shuffle groove underneath the bouncier bossa texture of the guitar, and the song clicked in a way it never had before. It was one of those magical moments when everyone taps in to the moment and creates something that sounds larger than its component parts. By the time we got to the studio, I think we were able to set this down in two or three takes. I love the way that Aaron’s keyboard lines just float on top of the texture. Matthew Vitti later wrote the string parts, creating a kind of cinematic quality to the soundscape that I think perfectly mirrors the lyrics of the song.

What is it about New York City that you love most?

There are a million little things, but ultimately it’s the energy of the place, the inexhaustible drive to make and create that inspires me. It can be exhausting, but it’s what makes NYC what it is, and what allows anyone from anywhere in the world to come here and make it their home.

Many people don’t realize that you are an award winning poet, can you tell us a little bit about your poetry?

People often ask me if I get inspiration from poetry for my lyrics, or if I turn poems into songs, but I find that they’re pretty separate disciplines, even if they tap into and use a similar parts of my creative energy. My poetry tends to be more abstract and fragmentary than my songs, many of which can be narrative at times. It’s a verbal energy that I’ve been trying to adapt to my songwriting, but often times the complexity of poetry makes for awful lyrics, and the simplicity of a good lyric will read like nonsense on the page. It’s an ongoing conversation that changes all the time.

‘New York in Spring,’ (out June 9th) is also the title of your second seasonally based records (the first being ‘Winter Bare’ out now) can you tell us about working on this project as a whole?

My first album, Tenant, took so long to make that I was just sick of the songs by the time it came out~~I didn’t want to listen to them, I didn’t want to talk about them, and I certainly didn’t want to play them live. I wanted whatever came next to be immediate and fresh, and I had two sets of new songs~~one a kind of alt~country set of love songs, which became Winter Bare, and these older assignments from Secret City, that became New York in Spring. I was lucky and fortunate enough to have the project funded on Kickstarter, which gave me the money I needed to get the project off the ground. Ultimately it was my producer, Ryan Rumery, who set the whole thing in motion, found studios in LA and NYC to record, and put me in touch with Craig Schumacher at WaveLab Studio in Tucson, where the real soundscape and vision of the albums came together.

What is it about Bossa nova and Brazilian guitar that attracted you to this sound?

How can you not love Brazilian music? The rhythms, the way the melody lines always seem to kind of float over the harmonic changes… I was tired of playing classical music, but still very much in love with the Spanish and Latin American repertoire that drew me to the instrument in the first place, so I started messing around with arrangements of classic Bossa nova tunes~~Jobim, Baden Powell, Luiz Bonfa. I was playing so much of that music that it kind of incorporated itself into my musical language: suddenly the songs I was writing started harnessing that rhythmic and harmonic language.

After the album is released, what’s next for Jeremy Bass?

I find I create for a context~~Winter Bare was an assignment of sorts to write country and bluegrass inspired love songs, and New York in Spring came out of literal assignments to write for themes that I tailored to a Bossa style of playing: Style, New York in Spring, Work. So right now I’m waiting for my next context. I’m also fairly restless~~once I’ve made an album and figured out a certain sound, I get bored with it and need to create something new. This summer I’m going to be workshopping songs for a new album at WaveLab Studio, but I’m still searching for what that sound is going to be: more electric, incorporating different sounds and blending them together in a new way. The songwriting will have to change, too, to fit the new sound, and I’ll be collaborating on writing these tunes with Ryan Rumery and Craig Schumacher, which will create something, hopefully, unexpected~~I’m excited to see what happens. - Groundsounds

Listen to this new track from Brooklyn-based indie acoustic / folk singer Jeremy Bass called New York In Spring, which is the title track for his newly released Bossa nova inspired CD.

“New York in Spring is essentially a love song for New York,” Bass says of the title track taken from the second of two seasonally-based records (the first being “Winter Bare,” out now) that he’s releasing in the first half of 2015. “I think a lot of people, artists especially, have a love-hate relationship with this city. It’s inspiring, with an energy that’s inimitable, but at the same time the relentless pace can suck you dry.” Bass continues, “Then spring comes, people take off most of their clothes, everyone’s in the streets and cafes and bars after months of being cooped up, and you think, ‘How could I ever live anywhere else?’”

I absolutely LOVE this song. It EXUDES New York, and I’m not sure if it’s his voice or the piano, but I’m in love. Great track! - Indie Minded

“‘Lift Me Up’ is the first song I wrote after months of not writing,” says Brooklyn’s Jeremy Bass of his isolated existence in the winter of 2013 when he began working on Winter Bare, the first of his two upcoming albums. The track can be heard here via an exclusive premiere at Guitar World. “It was on one of those dark nights when it was all I could do to keep myself from going crazy,” he remembers. “Winter has always been tough for me, and the winter of 2013 was especially hard.”

He isn’t kidding.

Just prior to the creation of Winter Bare, Bass was splitting up with his wife, selling the house they shared together, and toiling away for the third year straight on a debut album that he had become disconnected with by the time it was finally released late last year. Returning to single living in Brooklyn during the intense New York winter of 2013, Bass found himself secluded in an empty house, sifting through his memories.

“I was drinking, I had run out of money, I was nearly unemployed, and certainly unemployable,” he confesses. “But, I had a fireplace and my guitars.” Though Bass was in the grip of despair, he thought that maybe he could write his way out of it and actually change the course of his life in the process.

He has.

“By the end of the winter, I’d fallen in love again, and had a set of songs that wove their way through loneliness, despair and near-insanity, to love and longing, and ultimately hope,” he says.

Unlike Bass’ labored-over debut album, Winter Bare – which arrives on April 14th and will be followed up by an album of Bossa nova-inspired tunes called New York in Spring on June 2nd – is pure and to the point. Musically, the album bares the influence of musical outlaws such as Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Tom Waits, artists Bass was listening to as he taught himself to play mandolin and banjo, his “divorce gifts” to himself.

“I suppose it’s fitting that the songs on Winter Bare came out after a period of intense suffering in my personal life, followed by unexpected and incredibly joyful personal freedom, and musical exploration,” Bass concludes. - Music News Nashville

2014 has been – without a doubt – the year of the indie rock singer-songwriter. We’ve had amazing releases like Xander Smith, Matt Turk and Sean Watkins coming in one after the other, and they just keep getting better and better. The latest album to amaze us is Tenant by Jeremy Bass. It’s a daring, brave set of songs that strips away the mind’s trickery of camouflage and crutches, and bares the truth of an individual through words and music. It’s touching, relevant and excellent.

Jeremy Bass is a bi-coastal singer/songwriter, published poet and literary critic and on Tenant his stunning lyrical and language skills are perfectly framed and beautifully displayed. His ability to paint pictures with words and music is simply superb and he takes the listener on journeys that are elegant, deep and seemingly endless. There’s a whole world lensed through the shimmering window of Tenant. Joining Jeremy are producer Matthew Vitti, bassist Pete Griffin, keyboardist and composer Aaron Kotler, members of Silouette Quartet, and a backing array of mandolin, banjo, and lap steel guitars who have all combined to craft an album that will surely stand the test of time. Together they have put together a collection of complex, poignant and personal songs that have been beautifully realized with love and attention to the finest detail. Very Highly Recommended. - Rust Magazine

Americana is one of our favorite genres to dig into right now. The artists and writers of the country sub-genre tend to honor the songwriting craft while taking the chances that everybody else seems too afraid to take. This is the case with newcomer Jeremy Bass and his debut album Tenant. Fusing together poetic lyrics that stay focused on telling compelling stories of life and love and bringing them together with melodies that pull from a 60's inspired folk vibe and roots rock element gives this album character. "Pickup Lines For The Love Of My Life" opens up the album and uses a catchy melody to hook you into it as it gives away to Bass’ incredible voice that he uses to grip you into the song and the album. These are signature traits that continue to shine as you press forward with songs like "Gone” and the toe-tapping closer "The Bridges." However, there are also glimpses of a Paul Simon storytelling type of influence that comes through on songs like "The Road" and "River River" while on the slower paced songs like "The Thief's Song," he leans heavy on a more stripped down folk style. This is in no way an album built for the country music lover of today's Top 40, but rather for those that are looking for solid songs, clever writing, and someone that isn't afraid to experiment as they touch on several different genre borders throughout one easy to listen project. - One Stop Country

Jeremy Bass got his start as a classically-trained guitarist and trained at prestigious academies in Italy and Spain. He’s also a widely published poet and gained some acclaim as bandleader and musical director of the OBIE award-winning variety show “The Secret City.” He has expanded his musical palette even further with the release of debut album “Tenant.”

In addition to his skills as a guitarist and wordsmith, Bass shows off an ear-pleasing tenor throughout a 11-track release that was the very definition of ambitious. “The album is a testament to collaboration,” Bass explains. “We’d record one track (in Connecticut) … then send it off to guys at studios in L.A. and Brooklyn who would add bass and keys and other backing instruments. It was cross-continental and we hope the sound of the album reflects that scope and vision.”

Bass gets off to a terrific start on “Tenant” with “Pickup Lines for the Love of My Life,” “Grey Days” and “River River,” and later soars on “Songs of Sex & Ritual,” “These Hands” and “The Bridge.” This is an enjoyable effort from a talented artist that deserves to be on your radar. (Jeffrey Sisk) - Pittsburgh In Tune

When listening to Tenant, the debut album from singer-songwriter Jeremy Bass, there is no doubt that his music is influenced by many different genres. Some parts classical music, which he was originally trained as, and at other times soulful, upbeat, and even displaying roots of classic rock.

Bass is a poet and a journalist so his cryptic lyrics that seem to bear more than just a single meaning are no surprise. All songwriters, in some sense, are poets, but Bass is not your average singer-songwriter, and his words originally appeared on pages in the form of written poetry. The lessons that he learned from choosing every word carefully show in his heartfelt, cut to the bone words that follow throughout the diverse, eleven track, almost hour length album.

Each track seamlessly flows into the next. His vocals, capable of switching from a deep, soulful tone into a high falsetto may not even be the albums greatest attribute. His classical music background proves to be the highpoint in Tenant. The instrumentals are superb, diverse, and can only be supplemented by words that truly are poetry.

The unique quality of the album may also be one of its detriments. Tenant is a journey that can only be fully enjoyed and understood by listening to the whole album. In essence, it captivates human emotion, but does that over the course of an hour. There are no standout tracks, because the album as itself exists only as a whole. All eleven tracks are necessary. For that reason, it may not capture a widespread audience or see much radio play.

But just as a poet knows that every word in a poem must be there for a reason, Jeremy Bass surely knows that Tenant is a combination of its parts. His debut album may not change the musical atmosphere, but the meaning of the album will surely resonate with those willing to go on the ride. A truly poetic and unique debut solo album. - The Rock Office

The signature of a good musician is one who can find the proper balance between his or her voice, the accompanying music and the emotion they weave into their creations. On his album ‘Tenant’ Jeremy Bass creates the perfect math problem: giving each element a well-balanced one-third in each of his songs.

Playing melodies that seem to float of their own accord, Bass has given himself over to his musical talents. With each track averaging in the five-minute range, they all have the opportunity to showcase his skills as a master storyteller. His voice wavers in the arena of John Mayer with the instrumental talents of Cat Stevens and plays softly with the utmost control; there is nothing out of place in these 11 songs. Each piece seems to glide along of its own accord, giving the effect of a natural effort. Bass is a natural born musician.

The songs are ballads that wonderfully capture the Human Experience; he is able to share the idea that we are tenants in a much larger overall apartment building of Life. Everything—the voice, the lyrics, the instruments—is light-spirited, and though the songs often skirt the fringes of country music, they escape the gravitational pull of specific genre conventions. This is truly his album.

Bass sees a shine in all emotional elements: he makes love and loss a little easier to carry. Even better, his music reflects that. It is controlled and even and streams away from the hills and valleys that so many songs push us through as they channel the same emotions they carry. In essence, always the sign of adept and able artist, Bass has the maturity and skill to mold the emotions to his songs versus the other way around.

From start to end, Jeremy Bass has infused himself into every track on ‘Tenant.’ The songs are good. The lyrics are good. His voice is good. He is able to use his talents to paint pictures that we can all appreciate. He takes his time to share his vision and to take the listeners along on his journey. The lyric of one song tells the listeners that “if you want to see the sun you better learn how to shine.” Mr. Bass, put on your sunglasses. - Innocent Words

‘Winter Bare’
Jeremy Bass (self-released)
4 stars out of 5

Singer/songwriter Jeremy Bass isn’t the first musician to channel his personal pain and sorrow into art, nor will the Brooklynite be the last one to do so. In remarkable new EP “Winter Bare,” however, Bass has emerged from the darkness of personal hardship with a record that absolutely deserves to be heard by as many people as possible.

“I suppose it’s fitting that the songs on ‘Winter Bare’ came out after a period of intense suffering in my personal life, followed by unexpected and incredibly joyful personal freedom and musical exploration” says Bass, who was going through a divorce and selling their marital home when he set about penning these seven tunes. “I was drinking, I had run out of money, I was nearly unemployed, and certainly unemployable.”

He rose above the despair to craft a rootsy, 25-minute gem that blends elements of pop, country and folk into a tasty sonic stew. Bass shines brightest on “Lift Me Up,” the title track, the Ryan Adams-inspired “One More Cigarette,” “Red Tailed Hawk” and “Counting.” Things are looking up these days for Bass … and this splendid record is just part of the equation. (Jeffrey Sisk) - Pittsburgh In Tune