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Michael Janisch

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About Me


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Since arriving in London from his native USA in 2005, Michael Janisch has rapidly established himself as one of the leading and most versatile acoustic/electric bass players in the country. Although known mainly as a jazz player, he is increasingly being sought after by musicians of all genres for his ability to adapt to any musical situation with ease, while bringing a "joyous, warm presence to any band he plays in," (Bass Player Mag.com).
An alumnus of Boston’s Berklee College of Music (where he was awarded a full scholarship and cut his teeth playing at many of the cities top jazz clubs such as Ryles, Regatta Bar, and Walley's, the latter under the tutelage of trumpeter Darren Barrett), Michael has studied privately and institutionally with some of the world’s top bassists, including Ray Brown, Christian McBride, Abraham Laboriel, Bertrum Turetzsky, and Dave Santoro.
Described by JazzWise magazine as a “muscular, fluent jazz player with an irresistible pulse and virtuosic soloing technique,” his jazz resume includes many internationally renowned musical visionaries: most notably Joe Lovano, Roy Hargrove, Hal Crook, Dianna Reeves, Mark Turner, Joe Locke, George Garzone, Shirley Horn, and Clark Terry, among many other emerging artists on both sides of the Atlantic. His credentials also include performances at the Blue Note, Carnegie Hall and The Hollywood Bowl, Ronnie Scotts, the Marciac, North Sea, Singapore, Vitoria, Umbria, and Monterey Jazz Festivals, as well as a stint playing in a Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Quincy Jones at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles.
In the UK, Janisch has had the privilege to work with many of the country's world renown jazz artists, such as Tommy Smith, Jason Rebello, Gary Husband, Gerard Presencer, Christine Tobin, Dennis Rollins, Jean Toussaint, Phil Robson, Ray Gelato, Jim Mullen, Tim Garland, Julian Siegel, as well as some of the most exciting emerging musicians: Gwilym Simcock, Jim Hart, and Soweto Kinch.
Currently, Michael divides his time between an impressive array of musical genres, from classical (“his bowing is a delight,” raves Jazz-Review), to big bands, to soul and r & b, working with many artists from across the globe. In recent years, his playing has also become in-demand in the world of session and studio music for radio, film, and television. Some highlights have included appearances on various BBC Music Documentaries, MTV Europe, The Tonight Show, The Brit Awards, and The Michael Parkinson Show.
During the last two years, Janisch has become "increasingly influential" (John Fordham, JazzUK) at promoting grass roots jazz and other music events around the UK, Europe, and the US. Since 2005 he has self-organized and promoted 7 successful tours (some 20 + dates in length), residencies and many other smaller scale events to rave reviews by the press with musicians from both Europe and the US. Furthermore, as a means for continuing ongoing cross-continental musical relationships, he formed The TransAtlantic Collective with award winning alto saxophonist and composer Patrick Cornelius from New York City in 2005 in order to bring together the many emerging new artists of his generation from his native United States, the United Kingdom, and Continental Europe. The TransAtlantic Collective has just recently finished (Dec 07) their third major tour, in which they performed over 20 concerts and workshops in Luxembourg, France, England and Scotland. (please see www.thetransatlanticcollective.com for more details).
Still in his twenties, Michael has had the honor of recently being awarded the 2007 "Young Jazz Musician of the Year Award" by the Worshipful Company of Musicians (England's oldest craft guild devoted to performing arts that has been working on behalf of musicians for over 500 years) at the Pizza on the Park Jazz Club in London's fashionable Knightsbridge district. He has also recently joined the Royal Academy of Music’s teaching roster as Professor of Acoustic Jazz Bass, and endorses Innovation brand bass strings exclusively.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 9/14/2006
Band Website: thetransatlanticcollective.com
Band Members: Freelance Bassist playing whatever music I can get my hands on but my love is playing jazz, world and soul musics......
I've finally had some time to add music from some of my own projects from 2007. One band is the Roundtable which is made up of Petr Cancura and Dan Blake on tenor sax, Jim Hart on vibes, and Richie Barshay on drums, and the tracks of this band on this page are "Fig Bun" and "Precisely Now". The other group of mine here is the TransAtlantic Collective and on this performance in Luxembourg was Patrick Cornelius on alto, Kristjan Randalu on piano, and Paul Wiltgen on drums. "Blue Wave and Stablemates" are from this band.
Influences: Life, family, friends, traveling, working out, hanging out, partying, eating :-) and way too many musicians to even begin to name!!!, but check out my friends list, these people have all influenced me in some way...
Sounds Like: "One of the UK's most exciting new Improvisers with percussive, Mingus-like power" --The Guardian
"On this date, Janisch's playing recalls the kind of soulful bass lines one would associate with the late great Ray Brown.." --JazzTimes
"...the London-based American bassist Michael Janisch, whose virtuosity has put him in the UK's top jazz flight since his arrival in 2005...is having an impact beyond his hard-driving bass-playing." --John Fordham, Jazz UK
"Michael Janisch, who treated the audience to a superb bowed solo in the very first number, highlighted the difference between a merely competent bassist and a brilliantly imaginative player, with his stimulating support for the front line players..." --JazzWise
“…bassist Mike Janisch is impressive, adding a little muscle to the proceedings in a manner that sets up a great sense of tension and release” --jazzreview.com
“always hip, melodic, and bouncy” --The Times of London
"Jaco-type chops without any Jaco nuances or tendencies-- a rarity, and a welcomed one" --altguitarbass.com
"soul drenched bass [electric]" --The Metro, Nottinghill News
With The TransAtlantic Collective:
“…a standout rhythm section, including Minnesota-born but London-based Michael Janisch consistently lifted the gig, following tricky structures without losing a beat, laying down an irresistible pulse.” --The Financial Times
With Richie Barshay's RoundTable:
"London-based American Bass player Michael Janisch was stunning throughout... and provided a remarkable bowed bass solo on Cancura's slow 'Tango'" --Chris Beggs, Leicester Mercury
With Gary Husband's Drive:
"...bassist Mike Janisch sustained both a big sound and a fierce pulse" John Fordham, The Gardian
"....Gary Husband and US double-bassist Mike Janisch built redeeming passages of crackling ensemble swing" Jack Massarik, Evening Standard

Record Label: SunLightSquare Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

TransAtlantic Collective to perform at Ronnie Scotts, April 2008

My band, the TransAtlantic Collective, is going to do a residency at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in London, from April 28-30. We will be playing alongside the great Avishai Cohen’s band. More...
Posted by Michael Janisch on Sat, 29 Mar 2008 08:03:00 PST

TransAtlantic Collective Tour, 2007

Well, I've finally had some down time to reflect on my bands' (The TransAtlantic Collective) recent tour around some parts of Europe and the UK.The band is a quintet made up of musicians from basical...
Posted by Michael Janisch on Mon, 07 Jan 2008 02:33:00 PST

Random Music Trivia updated Dec 16

Here's some random Music Trivia:Dec 16, 07:The Oldest Continually Played Court Music in the World: Gagaku (translation|: elegent music) has been played at the Japanese imperial court for over 1200 ye...
Posted by Michael Janisch on Sun, 21 Oct 2007 06:46:00 PST

Richie Barshays 2007 RoundTable Tour Reflections, Review, and Video, etc...

I'm gonna start giving blogs a try, I enjoy reading other people's so what the !!.......In september to october, I was involved in a back to back 20 or so date tour with a project known as Richie Bars...
Posted by Michael Janisch on Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:30:00 PST