London-based electric and double bassist, composer, producer, and record-label owner
Michael Janisch is an inventive performer known for his modern creative jazz. Following his work with the forward-thinking
TransAtlantic Collective in the early 2000s,
Janisch drew praise for his solo albums including 2010's
Purpose Built and 2015's MOBO Award-nominated
Paradigm Shift. The latter album found him embracing a stylistically adventurous electro-acoustic sound that he further showcased on 2019's
Worlds Collide. He has worked with artists like
Quincy Jones,
Donny McCaslin,
Ingrid Jensen,
Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Miguel Zenon, among many others. All of
Janisch's solo albums have been issued on his own Whirlwind Recordings, for which he has also produced and/or executive-produced over 180 albums.
Born in 1979 in Ellsworth, Wisconsin,
Janisch studied piano and bass while growing up. Initially, though, he focused on a sports career, studying history at Minnesota State University, Mankato, which he attended for three years on a football scholarship. However, after an injury put his football career on hold,
Janisch refocused his studies on playing music, ultimately earning his bachelor's degree in double bass performance and music business from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After a brief stint in New York City,
Janisch moved to Britain with his English wife. It was there that he formed the band
the TransAtlantic Collective with saxophonist
Patrick Cornelius. In 2008, they released the album Traveling Song.
In 2010,
Janisch formed his own record label, Whirlwind Recordings, and released his debut solo album,
Purpose Built. He was joined on the album by a bevy of players, including trumpeter
Jason Palmer, saxophonist
Walter Smith III, pianist
Aaron Goldberg, and others. That was followed two years later by his collaboration with Cuban-born pianist
Aruán Ortiz, Banned in London. In 2014,
Janisch joined
Lee Konitz for the concert album First Meeting: Live in London, Vol. 1, also released on Whirlwind.
The following year,
Janisch issued the double-disc
Paradigm Shift, which featured his quintet with trumpeter
Palmer and found him augmenting a live recording with post-production electronics from
Alex Bonney. It was nominated for a Parliamentary Jazz Award and a MOBO Award for Best Jazz Act. He returned in 2019 with the similarly expansive, rock- and electro-acoustic-leaning
Worlds Collide, which again featured
Palmer, saxophonist
John O'Gallagher, guitarist
Rez Abbasi, and drummer
Clarence Penn, as well as guest spots from keyboardist
John Escreet, saxophonist
George Crowley, and percussionist
Andrew Bain. ~ Matt Collar