Bill Anschell: Figments
ByRecorded over a series of late nights, after practicing his chosen craft, Anschell clears his mind and...begins to fool around, but Anschell's "fooling around" amounts to a postmodern study of American music. When recording "What's Going On," Marvin Gaye recorded saxophonist Eli Fontaine while he was warming up. Gaye used some of this "warming up" to introduce the now famous social anthem. When Fontaine heard it, he tried telling Gaye that he was "just goofing." Gaye told him "you goofed off exquisitely." Bill Anschell, too, goofs off exquisitely.
His subjects or "Figments" range from his deconstructed "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" to a rollicking stride-piano rendering of Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant." Anschell sits down, stream-of-conscious, and plays what first comes into his head, modulating his message in real time, allowing whim and fancy to inform his direction. And those directions are many from the heroin-loaded Bill Evans' introspection of "All My Tomorrows" to a celestial brush with the Eagles' "Desparado."
Anschell goes all John Cage with a delightful prepared piano reading of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi," easily the most inventive of his ruminations. Blood, Sweat and Tears' "Spinning Wheel" recalls a Dave Frank left hand, while the standard "Willow Weep for Me" is a fragmented Monkian dream given leave to the muses of the wind.
Anschell hits a walk off grand-slam with Figments. After his collaboration with saxophonist Brent Jensen on We Couldn't Agree More (Origin Records, 2009), we should have expected it.
Track Listing
My Heart Belongs to Daddy; All My Tomorrows; Alice's Restaurant; Big Yellow Taxi; It Never Entered My Mind; Willow Weep for Me; Spinning Wheel; Across the Universe; Honeysuckle Rose; Desperado; I'm Getting Sentimental Over You; Ask Me Why.
Personnel
Bill Anschell: piano, prepared piano (4).
Album information
Title: Figments | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: Origin Records
Post a comment about this album
FOR THE LOVE OF JAZZ

WE NEED YOUR HELP
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.About Bill Anschell
Instrument: Piano
Article Coverage | Calendar | Albums | Photos | Similar Artists