New Origin Records CD by
Pianist/Composer Bill Anschell,
"Rumbler,"
Set for January 20 Release
Features Anschell's Longtime Trio--Set for January 20 Release
Bassist Chris Symer & Drummer Jose Martinez--
Plus Guest Appearances by
Guitarist Brian Monroney,
Jeff Coffin (Soprano Sax), Rich Cole (Tenor Sax),
Percussionist Jeff Busch, & Wind Player Hans Teuber
CD Release Show at Tula's, Seattle, Feb. 11
December 21, 2016
One of the most valuable players in Seattle's thriving jazz scene, pianist Bill Anschell
is a prolific composer and adept arranger who's explored those aspects
of his craft since debuting on disc 20 years ago. His new Origin Records
CD, Rumbler, which will be released January 20,
is Anschell's ninth album as a leader and his first full ensemble jazz
recording in a decade. Throughout the recording, Anschell embraces odd
meters, shifting tonalities, and other striking effects.
"I've written enough conventional tunes," he says. "I don't
need to do that anymore. I'm more interested in going beyond the 32-bar
form. I like to set up unusual compositional challenges for myself and
try to solve them in a way that still allows the band plenty of room for
improvisation and interaction."
Rumbler is anchored by his longstanding trio, including bassist Chris Symer and drummer Jose Martinez. Jeff Coffin makes a memorable guest appearance on one tune on soprano saxophone, while Rich Cole shines on tenor saxophone on another. In addition to the fine guitarist Brian Monroney, to whom Anschell was introduced by Symer, the contributors include versatile flutist and saxophonist Hans Teuber and percussionist Jeff Busch.
From the opening strains of Thelonious Monk's "Misterioso," it's clear that Rumbler is less a showcase for Anschell's piano playing than for his writing and arranging. For "Misterioso,"
he heard in his head distorted guitar and a kind of power-rock
countermelody. With guitarist Monroney providing the sonic edge, the
frequently performed classic takes on intriguing new life.
Anschell's favorite composition on the album, "Captive Light,"
written in 5/4, "sounds clean and simple, but it's very challenging for
the improviser as the meter turns around against itself," he says. His
distinctive take on the Beatles' "For No One" (from Revolver) pointedly avoids the tendency of many jazz artists to perform pop songs as written, just adding a facile swing feel.
With a wide range of ethnic styles at his fingertips, including the Afro-Peruvian lando (as heard on "Dark Wind") and South Indian rhythms, Anschell has myriad directions to go in issuing those challenges to himself -- and the listener.
Born in Seattle in 1959, Bill Anschell
was a self-taught pianist who did not take formal music lessons until
he enrolled at Oberlin College. He transferred to Wesleyan University,
where he had the good fortune to study with esteemed saxophonist and
composer Bill Barron and mridangam master T Ranganathan, whose teachings had a powerful impact on Anschell's approach to rhythm.
Anschell subsequently studied arts administration at the
University of Wisconsin. In 1989, armed with a master's degree, he went
to Atlanta to become Jazz Coordinator of the Southern Arts Federation.
While with the organization, he created "JazzSouth,"
an internationally syndicated radio show; published a book on grant
writing; and dove headlong into the city's jazz scene as a sideman and
leader of his own trio. The trio performed at the 1996 Summer Olympic
Games and Atlanta Montreux Jazz Festival and toured South America four
times.
During the early to mid-1990s, Anschell worked with singer Nnenna Freelon
as her accompanist, arranger, and music director, contributing to
several albums of hers in one or more of those guises. He made his own
album debut in 1995 with Rhythm Changes, a mix of originals, bebop classics, and standards, and followed it in 1998 with the eclectic a different note all together, which was selected as one of the top 10 jazz albums of the year by UPI.
In 2002, Anschell, his wife, and their four-year-old son
moved back to Seattle to be near their extended families. To say the
Pacific Northwest has been good to him would be a huge understatement,
judging by the regional honors and awards that have been bestowed on him
and the opportunities he has had to alternate between his own projects
and a multitude of ones involving first-rate players in collective-style
settings.
Photography: Steve Korn
Web Site: billanschell.com
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