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Bill Anschell: Unearthing Jazz's Improbable Solutions
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, the Spotlight shines On Seattle pianist and composer Bill Anschell. We've had award winners of all types on the podcast, but as far as I can remember, Bill is the first to have won an award for humor: in 2014, Bill was the winner of the inaugural Paul Desmond Award, All About Jazz's celebration of the funniest jazz artists. We get to that and his satirical essay, “Careers in Jazz," which is one of the most-read pieces ...
Continue ReadingBill Anschell / Brent Jensen: We Couldn't Agree More
by Thomas Conrad
Wynton Marsalis recently said, “The hallmark of a first-class jazz musician is the ability to adapt." It is a paradoxical statement. But Marsalis is not using the term “adapt" in the Darwinian context of adaptation and natural selection. He does not mean adapting to, say, bad food on the road. He is referring to listening skills and lightning reflexes. Jazz improvisation is a moment-to-moment creative process of real-time interaction and discovery. It would be hard to find a ...
Continue ReadingHadley Caliman / Pete Christlieb: Reunion
by Thomas Conrad
At the end of the first decade of the new millennium, one of the most gratifying developments in jazz is the late blossoming of Hadley Caliman. In 2008, at 76, he released Gratitude, his first recording as a leader in 31 years. It was followed in 2010 by Straight Ahead. They created a buzz on the jazz street. It is not just that he has lasted long enough to finally get the attention he deserves. Hadley Caliman is currently playing ...
Continue ReadingBill Anschell: Improbable Solutions
by Dan McClenaghan
Most fans of Seattle-based pianist Bill Anschell will not see this one coming. His comfort zone on his own recordings has been as a mainstream acoustic jazz artist, on albums like Shifting Standards (2018), a piano trio affair, Rumbler (2017) and Figments (2011), a solo piano outing. All of these were released on Origin Records. Anschell, who formerly worked as vocalist Nnenna Freelon's musical director, crafts his recordings with a high polish and does not generally rock the ...
Continue ReadingBill Anschell: Improbable Solutions
by Paul Rauch
Pianist and composer Bill Anschell has made his mark in jazz as a distinctive pianist with a notable body of work. His time in Atlanta, and his extensive residency in Seattle, has produced ten recordings as a leader or co-leader, and a well-deserved following on live dates with two distinctive trios, plus his “Rumbler" band. His previous two recordings define the past decade of his career, with Shifting Standards (Origin, 2018) bearing witness to his trio prowess with partners Jeff ...
Continue ReadingDmitri Matheny: Cascadia
by Jack Bowers
Cascadia encompasses an hour of amiable, even-tempered jazz from trumpeter Dmitri Matheny who, like several of his predecessors—Chet Baker, Chuck Mangione, Guido Basso and his mentor, Art Farmer, among them—focuses exclusively on flugelhorn. Matheny uses his gorgeous tone and remarkable lyricism to paint exquisite portraits in sound throughout a program whose ten engaging numbers enfold half a dozen of his original compositions. Matheny shares the front line with saxophonist Charles McNeal whose solos (on soprano or tenor ...
Continue ReadingDmitri Matheny: Cascadia
by Dan McClenaghan
Flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny and his quintet play perfectly on Cascadia. There is no surprise there—with a rhythm section of pianist Bill Anschell, bassist Phil Sparks and drummer Mark Ivester backing the front line of Matheny and saxophonist Charles McNeil— perfection is the expectation. Matheny grew up in Georgia and Arizona, spent a formative and near-obligatory stint in New York City, and played for a time in the band of pianist Amina Figarova—another jazz artist who knows something about ...
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