Jeremy Cunningham

Jeremy Cunningham is a composer, drummer, and producer whose music is shaped through improvisation, storytelling, and a deep connection to Chicago’s creative music community. Long-standing creative relationships and a belief in collective music-making have become the foundation of his practice, where fragments of piano sketches, lines of poetry, field recordings, and rhythmic ideas are transformed into richly layered works that blur the boundaries between jazz, experimental music, and song.  Originally from Cincinnati, Cunningham relocated to Chicago in 2009, where he became an integral part of the city’s vibrant creative music scene. His 2020 debut as a leader, The Weather Up There, earned widespread critical acclaim from Pitchfork, TIME, Bandcamp, the Chicago Tribune, Dusted, and others, with Josh Terry calling it “one of the most affecting jazz albums in recent memory.” On Passing Fires, Cunningham expands that collaborative spirit in a striking new direction. Produced by Cunningham alongside Paul Bryan and Josh Johnson, the album transforms intimate piano sketches, family-room recordings, and richly layered studio performances into a vivid meditation on memory, love, and change. Joined by an extraordinary cast, the result is his most expansive work to date: an album rooted in friendship, shaped by years of collective music-making, and animated by the quiet beauty found in everyday moments.