Jesse Elder is a pianist, composer, arranger, producer, lyricist, singer & songwriter.

Jesse lives in NYC with his wife and two children.

As a pianist he has been performing professionally for over 20 years, in venues ranging from dingy bars with broken pianos, to stages like Radio City Music Hall (NYC), Red Rocks (CO), L’Olympia (Paris) & the Greek Theatre (LA). Jesse is now primarily playing music for kids/families with his wife Blanca Cecilia González. The act is called Musiquita. He was the Music Director for Postmodern Jukebox, from 2016 through 2022. He arranged these versions of Straight Up, We Can’t Stop & the Super Mario Bros. Tap Dance Medley for the group, and also plays on Crazy, Dog Days Are Over & Thong Song. He has toured the world extensively with this and other groups. He was the Music Director for Haley Reinhart’s debut European tour. He was the pianist/arranger for the Candy Shop Boys, who appeared in the movie John Wick, (the first one, in the speakeasy scene). The group played the burlesque clubs in NYC for 8 years and did some touring. He was the pianist/keyboardist for Sarah Elizebeth Charles & SCOPE for over a decade. He recorded 4 albums in that ensemble. He played regularly, several times a week, for over a decade with the legendary Tony Middleton. His first major touring experience was as the keyboardist for a show featuring Angelo Moore of Fishbone. Jesse has been working with Murray Hill, (the hardest working middle aged man in showbiz) for about a decade. Thanks to Murray, Jesse has shared the stage with Ad Rock and Bridget Everett. He composed the music for the Art of Circus, featuring his band the Synesthetics. He appears on recordings by Hannah Gill, Zack Foley, Joanna Wallfisch, Michael Cunio, Matt Parker, Scott Tixier and others. Jesse’s mentor was the visionary pianist & artist developer, Vera Tisheff, who recently passed away.

Jesse has released a lot of original music over the years with many different ensembles, all of which can be heard by visiting his Youtube page or Spotify profile. The stylistic range is broad and contrasting, ranging from trad jazz to experimental prog rock and way beyond. The best way to get to know his work is to dive right in and start listening.