BIO: by Andy Waltzer

There is a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke that captures the essence of the music of Jenifer Jackson: “If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.” Throughout her body of work, Jenifer's music has possessed a pureness, a vivid naturalness that reveals not only the surface but the emotional worlds that dance just above this one. Like a pond and the mist that rises above it, these songs offer a vivid beauty as well as a yearning for the ethereal, the hopeful, the undefinable yet richly felt; in short, it is music that is pleasing to the ears as well as a kindred companion for the heart, a soundtrack for both the dream world and the one that we wake to.

Through her years in New York, Jenifer charmed listeners with music that seemed to exist both on the street and above the rooftops. Playing in cafes that would oftentimes become hushed, entranced by the music, her genre defying style began to find it's voice. Elements of country, 60's and 70's soul, bossa nova, jazz vocal, 60's pop and a sort of folk that touched upon psychedelia all were platforms for songs that mixed impressionistic imagery with the striving of a hopeful heart. Dreamy musings on longing would sit beside songs of heart quickening pop perfection. Among those who noticed were singer/songwriter Jules Shear who she has supported on tour, radio stations WFUV and WFMU, influential clubs such as Sine and The Living Room, and band mates / collaborators including Paul Bryan (Aimee Mann), Pat Sansone (Wilco, The Autumn Defense), Sonny Barbato, Oren Bloedow (Elysian fields, Chocolate Genius), Greg Wiz ( Twilight Singers, Joe Arthur), Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes), Nashville's Brad Jones and Jay Bellerose (Joe Henry, Allison Kraus).

Jenifer also composed the score for the award-winning indie film, Daydream Believer , which won a 2001 Independent Spirit Award, and Best Dramatic Feature in Slamdance. She recorded and released an album of standard jazz duets with her father, Julian, called Together In Time. Among her other collaborations, she co-wrote songs with Austin's Troy Campbell, Nashville's Swan Dive, and with Mads Mouritz for his Danish release, This Chaos Called Love. She also co-starred with Rosie Perez in the off-Broadway play, Brooklyn Bridge .

Her release on Bar None Records, So High , made its mark on radio audiences nationwide and landed on many a year-end "Best of" list including KKUT in Austin and WFUV in New York. Tangents UK named So High "Best Soft Pop Album of 2003." Jenifer appeared on World Café with David Dye, Mountain Stage and NPR's All Things Considered. So High was released in France on Bad Reputation Records during Spring 2005. It includes two French re-mixes La Force de L'Amour and Si Haut. In the same year Jenifer recorded an album of Goffin-King hits from the 60's and 70's produced by Pat Sansone.

JJ was featured on Texas TV Show Austin's Underground Musicians in the fall of 2010. Jackson performed at the legendary Olympia Theater in Paris for the first International Crossroads Night, and was featured in the nationally syndicated television series, Spotlight on Performing Songwriters.

Through the years, Jenifer's sound has evolved and taken on new colors and shades. The artistic movement was mirrored by a physical movement, from New York to Texas, and it is evident in the resulting recordings. Albums such as The Day Happiness Found Me seem to be radioed in from a place of big skies and open spaces. A folk / soul / country hybrid that is unique to her music has found it's form on recent recordings, with a yearning sweetness that matches in intensity what it possesses in comforting beauty. On her new album, these elements reach new heights, and do so in an overflowing set of harmony laden melodic gems that conjure everything from dreaming by a river, to a first kiss, to a night being enraptured by the stars, to an almost "cowboys lullaby" feeling. In short, this is what Jenifer Jackson does and has always done- provide music as a companion for the darkness and light, bringing the details in nature- both our nature and the natural world around us- into poetry enhanced focus via song.