Multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter Jason Crosby built a career as a prolific sideman and session musician, recording and performing with countless peers before linking up with
Blue Rose Music in 2017 to release his solo debut full-length, Cryptologic.
Performing since he was a teenager, Crosby went on to work with artists like
Bruce Springsteen,
Eric Clapton,
Carlos Santana,
Dave Matthews,
Susan Tedeschi,
Pete Seeger, and many more. In addition to his own early works, like Out of the Box (2000) and Four Chords and Seven Notes Ago (2003), Crosby also recorded with acts like
Zen Tricksters,
God Street Wine,
Phillip Phillips,
Assembly of Dust,
Robert Randolph & the Family Band, and others. In 2013, Crosby moved from New York to California and connected with
Phil Lesh and
Bob Weir. In this new creative environment, he found a new audience that allowed him to go from playing for tips to headlining sell-out shows. In early 2016, he entered the studio with Karl Derfler (
Tom Waits,
Dave Matthews) to begin recording his first solo studio LP. The first half of the album was performed entirely by Crosby -- keyboard, guitar, bass, violin, trumpet, vibraphone, marimba, timpani, banjo, and ukulele -- while a second recording session yielded songs recorded in a more collaborative jam environment. Along with
Tim Bluhm of
The Mother Hips -- who co-wrote the second half of the album -- Crosby was joined by the rest of
The Mother Hips and
Midnight North's Elliot Peck. The resulting effort was Cryptologic (
Blue Rose Music), a ten-song set that includes the songs "Roads Are Torn" and an instrumental interpretation of "What The World Needs Now is Love." ~ Neil Z. Yeung