Michael Janisch

Hailing from London, Michael Janisch works as an electric and double bassist while also composing, producing, and running his own record label, gaining notice for his forward-looking creative jazz. After early involvement with the boundary-pushing TransAtlantic Collective during the first years of the 2000s, he earned acclaim through solo releases such as Purpose Built in 2010 and the MOBO Award-nominated Paradigm Shift in 2015. On that later project he explored a bold electro-acoustic palette, an approach he expanded with the 2019 album Worlds Collide. His collaborators have included Quincy Jones, Donny McCaslin, Ingrid Jensen, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Miguel Zenon, among numerous others. Every one of his solo efforts has appeared on Whirlwind Recordings, the imprint he founded, and he has produced or executive-produced more than 180 albums for the label.

Janisch entered the world in 1979 in Ellsworth, Wisconsin, where he took up piano and bass during his youth. Sports initially claimed his attention; he spent three years at Minnesota State University, Mankato, on a football scholarship while studying history. An injury sidelined that path, prompting a shift to music studies that culminated in a bachelor’s degree in double bass performance and music business from Berklee College of Music in Boston. After a short period in New York City, he relocated to Britain alongside his English wife and there launched the TransAtlantic Collective alongside saxophonist Patrick Cornelius, issuing the album Traveling Song in 2008.

In 2010 Janisch established Whirlwind Recordings and delivered his first solo album, Purpose Built, supported by trumpeter Jason Palmer, saxophonist Walter Smith III, pianist Aaron Goldberg, and additional musicians. Two years later he partnered with Cuban-born pianist Aruán Ortiz on Banned in London. In 2014 he appeared with Lee Konitz on the concert recording First Meeting: Live in London, Vol. 1, also issued by Whirlwind.

The next year he released the double-disc Paradigm Shift, documenting his quintet with trumpeter Palmer and incorporating post-production electronics by Alex Bonney; the set earned nominations for a Parliamentary Jazz Award and a MOBO Award for Best Jazz Act. He followed with the comparably wide-ranging Worlds Collide in 2019, again featuring Palmer along with saxophonist John O’Gallagher, guitarist Rez Abbasi, and drummer Clarence Penn, plus contributions from keyboardist John Escreet, saxophonist George Crowley, and percussionist Andrew Bain.