Lights Out is Jesse Forest’s long-awaited debut album of original music featuring catchy pop tunes with jazz improvisation. The album features a range of songs and sounds, with vocals from Kaoru Azuma and band member support from talented players on the vanguard of the Japanese jazz scene. This album also features his skill as an arranger and orchestrator, with innovative horn lines and ensemble sounds, elegant melody lines, and rich harmonies. The result is a collection of songs rooted in the jazz tradition but influenced by modern American music and pushing into the future. Lights Out is the breath of a new sound. “With elegant melodies, rich harmonies, a great horn section, and dense arrangements, Jesse Forest’s Lights Out has a refreshingly appealing new sound that is also rooted in the fundamentals of the jazz tradition.” -CD Journal, Japan Biography Born in 1984 in Vermont, the United States, Jesse Forest studied classical guitar from a young age. In highschool he began performing professionally on guitar and bass and won ensemble positions in regional and statewide jazz competitions and participated in intensives at the Eastman School of Music. After graduation he moved to New York City and enrolled in the renowned New School jazz program and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz Performance with honors from The City College of New York. In NYC, he was active as a guitarist and electric bassist, performing at venues such as the Cornelia Street Cafe, the ZINC bar, the 55 bar, the United Nations, and the Bitter End. Upon moving to Japan in 2010, he has continued to perform with groups such as the Global Jazz Orchestra, the duo unit Star in Green, as well as other groups, and in March 2016 released his CD of original compositions, “Lights Out” from the Apollo Sounds label in Tokyo, followed by a national tour. He continues to work as a composer, accompanist, session musician and band leader. www.jesseforestmusic.com Album Information Release Date: March 9, 2016 Apollo Sounds: APLS1604 Track Listing: 1. PM 2. Hop Hip 3. I Will Wait 4. Lights Out 5. 501 6. Summer Wind 7. The World Today 8. Stumble Around 9. Misery 10. You & Me 11. Still all tracks composed, written, and arranged by Jesse Forest recorded August 20, 21 at 2015 at Studio Forte in Kobe, Japan