Bill Anschell
Earshot Golden Ear Awards
2005, 2010, 2011 Northwest Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year
2006 Northwest Acoustic Jazz Ensemble of the Year (Bill Anschell Trio)
2010 Northwest Jazz Recording of the Year (Figments)
2016 Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame
Read the Seattle Times Sunday Arts feature on me here.
In addition to my lifelong career playing in jazz venues across the U.S. and around the world (read my bio for more details), I have more than 30 years of experience playing music for weddings, receptions, and other private events.
Over all those years I’ve had nothing but satisfied clients, ranging from individuals celebrating important life events to organizations such as the Seattle Symphony, Microsoft, the Seattle Tennis Club and the City of Seattle.
I’ll work with you to build an ensemble that fits the instrumentation and budget you have in mind, and I’ll always be sure you get Seattle’s finest jazz artists.
Choose from:
*Solo piano
*Duo (piano with bass, sax or vocals)
*Trio (piano with bass plus drums, vocals, guitar or sax), or
*Larger ensembles (piano, bass and drums plus additional musicians).
We’ll tailor our music to suit your occasion. Our repertoire includes hundreds of the best-known standards by the great songwriters: Gershwin, Porter, Kern, Rodgers/Hart, Arlen, and many more. If you’ve got a specific request, we’re very happy to play it, from upbeat swing tunes to beautiful ballads.
For the more hard-core jazz listeners, we’ll also play tunes by the jazz greats, including Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck and Dizzy Gillespie. And if you prefer music still further off the beaten path, we can intersperse my own compositions, some of which have been featured on cable and television programs including The Wire, The West Wing and Yellowstone (listen to samples of my original work).
Wherever your jazz tastes lie, we’ll put together a program that gives you the style of music you want, whether it’s ambience-setting background music (as you might hear in an elegant restaurant), music for listening (e.g., the styles you might hear in a downtown jazz club) or music for dancing (swing, bossa nova, salsa or slow dancing).
(One disclaimer: We’re not a “Variety Band.” We’ll gladly sprinkle in a few Beatle songs, but if you want a band that will break into rock, Motown, or line dancing music at the end of the night, that’s not us. I’ll be happy to refer you to a more appropriate group.)
Click the player below for a brief sample montage of our music.
If you’d like a full-length demo CD, just let me know your address and I’ll put a copy in the mail.
I’m also happy to let you know where you can hear me live – solo or as part of a larger group.
We’re open to out-of-town engagements - we like to travel!
To contact me, just send an email to billanschell@mindspring.com, or give me a call at 425/273-4423.