Brent Jensen has performed & recorded with a wide range of jazz artists including Gene Harris, Bobby Shew, Bill Anschell, Jeff Johnson, John Bishop, John Stowell, Jamie Findlay and others. His recording, “The Sound of a Dry Martini: Remembering Paul Desmond” charted at the #1 position on jazz radio stations across the country and was featured on JazzWeek’s Top 100 and NPR’s JazzWorks’ Top 25 lists. Brent’s duo recording with pianist Bill Anschell, “We Couldn’t Agree More” was named a “Critic’s Choice” pick by Jazziz magazine and one of Jim Wilke’s “Best Northwest Jazz CDs. His recordings are available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify & Pandora and other online music streaming services.
Pianist Bill Anschell has performed in premiere venues throughout the U.S. and abroad,
both leading his trio and as pianist/musical director for vocalist Nnenna Freelon. His
concert credits include eight European tours with Freelon and seven South American
tours with his trio, including concerts in many of the leading international jazz festivals.
Anschell was the creator, producer and theme music composer for JazzSouth, a
syndicated radio program broadcast from 1990 – 2002 on more than 200 stations around
the world. In 1998 his CD, a different note all together, was selected by UPI (United
Press International) as one of the year’s “10 Best” jazz releases. That CD and his two
follow-up releases When Cooler Heads Prevail (2001) and More to the Ear than Meets
the Eye (2006) both enjoyed critical acclaim and extensive stays on the national jazz
radio charts. His 2009 duo CD of spontaneous improvisations with saxophonist Brent
Jensen was described by Cadence as “startlingly beautiful, surprising, and powerful…a
transforming experience.” Anschell is also highly regarded as a composer; his original
pieces have been placed more than 70 times in network and cable programs including
NBC’s The West Wing, HBO’s acclaimed series The Wire, and the Paramount Plus show
Yellowstone.
Anschell, a Seattle native, returned to the Emerald City in 2002 after a long residency in
Atlanta, Georgia. He received Earshot’s Golden Ear Award as the “Northwest Jazz
Instrumentalist of the Year” in 2005, 2010 and 2011; his trio was named “Northwest
Acoustic Jazz Ensemble of the Year” in 2006; his Figments CD was named “Northwest
Jazz Recording of the Year” in 2011, and in 2016 he was inducted into the Seattle Jazz
Hall of Fame.