Jeff Solomon, a NY-area singer/songwriter who plays the piano and baritone ukulele when performing live, admires pop from afar. A quick glance at his musical background may not lead one to label him a pop kinda guy; he started on classical piano at age four like a good immigrant’s son (his parents are Romanian but
they had him in the States) and then studied the saxophone from grade school thru college, where he became an honors student in classical composition at Cornell under the guidance of recent Pulitzer Prize winner Steven Stucky. But he’s been working on his genre-hopping pop songs the whole time, even though the first five CDs he ever bought were Dixieland recordings and his two greatest idols are free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman and the fiery, young James Carter (both saxophonists). In fact, one of the songs chosen for his new record was written when he was just fifteen, way before he’d ever heard of Ben Folds, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Ben Kweller, Rufus Wainwright, Joe Jackson, or any of the other fine folks that he’s now finding himself compared to.

After spending a few post-college years working the coffeehouse circles and logging experiences as a session keyboardist/saxophonist/arranger, Jeff took a few months off to make “Around the Square,” his first independently released collection of songs. It is Jeff’s first collaboration with up-and-coming producer Andrew Felluss, a talented engineer who has worked extensively with vanguard producers such as Phil Ramone, Frank Filipetti and the Neptunes. Andrew’s engineering credits include projects with Paul Simon, DMX, Peter Cincotti, Mary J. Blige, and Ray Charles’s recent Grammy winner, “Genius Loves Company.”

Jeff, who is also a co-founder of the award-winning comedy group Elephant Larry, has performed at NY venues such as CBGB’s Gallery, Pianos and Luna Lounge for a steadily growing number of devoted fans. And he’d love for you to check out his new CD. - http://www.jeffsolomonmusic.com