Improbable Solutions

Bill Anschell would be a badass wherever he lived... He is an impeccable, distinctive pianist with a valuable body of work...
JazzTimes

Over his vast and varied 40-year career, Bill Anschell has released six recordings under his own name, all being jazz projects featuring him solely on acoustic piano. Improbable Solutions changes all of that as Anschell blends the sounds of his acoustic jazz trio with layered electronics, creating unique and spacious soundscapes. His nine original compositions have an open sensibility, driven by memorable melodies and evocative grooves. Along with his long-time trio comrades—bassist Chris Symer and drummer Jose Martinez—Anschell adds electronic creations to accompany his acoustic piano, the stellar and searing guitarist Brian Monroney, percussionist Jeff Busch, and an adrenaline-soaked guest appearance by drummer KJ Sawka on the closing track.

"No matter where he plays on the keyboard, Anschell sounds like no other pianist."
JazzTimes

Production Info:

Produced by Bill Anschell
Acoustic Piano/Bass/Drums recorded by Reed Ruddy
at Avast Studios, Seattle, WA on March 1-2, 2023
Assistant Engineer: Jay Follette
Guitar/Percussion/Electronics recorded by Bill Anschell
at Bill Anschell Studios, Seattle, WA
June 12, 2023, July 7, 2023, and 2020-2023
Mixed by Bill Anschell at Bill Anschell Studios
Mastered by Ross Nyberg at Nyberg Mastering, Issaquah, WA
Cover Photo: ESA, Copernicus Sentinel data 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
Bill Anschell photo by Jim Levitt
Cover design & layout by John Bishop

Reviews of Improbable Solutions

All About Jazz (Paul Rauch)
4 1/2 STARS 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 previo ...

All About Jazz (Dan McClenaghan)
4-STARS 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. Anschel ...

Radio Sant Vicenc (Barcelona) (Miquel Tuset Mallol)
This is a surprising project, for how musical diversity and styles are twinned with the different formats and combination of instruments. And yes, because there are issues like the ballad and 3rd track "Gentle Persuasión" where the piano trio, double bass and drums caress us throughout the song and only distant echoes of the guitar arpeggios on a ...

Jazz Weekly (George W Harris)
Playing piano and electronics, Bill Anschell brings together a team of Chris Symer/b-eb, Jose Martinez-KJ Sawka/dr, Brian Monroney/g, and Jeff Busch/perc for some exciting originals that veer from progressive rock to hip fusion. There are hints of Weather Report with the melding of electronics, acoustic piano and deep pulses as on pieces like "Ambu ...

Radio REC (France) (Alain Dupeux)
With a splendid sound orientation, the American pianist Bill Anschell offers a splendid album. His unexpected arabesques reveal a free and limitless structure of creation, a musical diversity brings together different bop-hard bop influences, and the touch of its counterpoints constructs superb exchanges between tonicity and lightness. He maintains ...

KNKX - The New Cool (Abe Beeson)
Pianist Bill Anschell has established himself as a dynamic bandleader and able accompanist around his native Puget Sound region. But with his new release, Improbable Solutions, Anschell leaves the acoustic piano behind and digs deep into the possibilities of electronically produced music. New Cool host Abe Beeson spoke with Anschell recently abo ...

CD Hotlist (Rick Anderson)
If you ask me, the "improbable solution" at which keyboardist/composer Bill Anschell arrived in creating this album had to do with creating a program that draws equally on the straight-ahead jazz verities and on forward-thinking experimentation without sacrificing one for the other. Very few are able to strike that balance, and his achievement here ...

Earshot Jazz (ERIC OLSON)
It takes all of five bars for a ring modulator to slink, unassumingly, and rather unexpectedly, into the opening track of Seattle-based pianist Bill Anschell's newest work. A few seconds on, when guitarist Brian Monroney flicks his strings like Avi Bortnick on one of John Scofield's Überjam records, the album title falls into place: Improbable Sol ...

CD Hot List (Rick Anderson)
If you ask me, the "improbable solution" at which keyboardist/composer Bill Anschell arrived in creating this album had to do with creating a program that draws equally on the straight-ahead jazz verities and on forward-thinking experimentation without sacrificing one for the other. Very few are able to strike that balance, and his achievement here ...

DownBeat (Kira Grunenberg)
4-STARS There's an irony to how the music on Bill Anschell's Improbable Solutions comes together. The album demonstrates patience and careful rumination more than instant gratification. Moreover, knowing that these nine pieces were selected from more than 20 emphasizes how Improbable Solutions is about taking one's time, and it's in that spirit th ...