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Put your hands on the remote! browse music »Beginnings by Mike Janzen Trio
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fave it Acid Jazz | Traditional Jazz Combo
11 tracks | 75 minutes
Released Mar 2006
on Mike Janzen Trio
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- sample lyrics "album only" 05:00 Squint Blues lyrics "album only" 05:00 Squint Blues lyrics "album only" 05:00 Squint Blues
- sample lyrics "album only" 05:27 I Have Decided lyrics "album only" 05:27 I Have Decided lyrics "album only" 05:27 I Have Decided
- sample lyrics "album only" 06:48 If I Were a Rich Man lyrics "album only" 06:48 If I Were a Rich Man lyrics "album only" 06:48 If I Were a Rich Man
- sample lyrics "album only" 06:33 Funky Rhodes lyrics "album only" 06:33 Funky Rhodes lyrics "album only" 06:33 Funky Rhodes
- sample lyrics "album only" 06:59 Fragile lyrics "album only" 06:59 Fragile lyrics "album only" 06:59 Fragile
- sample lyrics "album only" 03:59 Ride On lyrics "album only" 03:59 Ride On lyrics "album only" 03:59 Ride On
- sample lyrics "album only" 07:25 Honeysuckle Rose lyrics "album only" 07:25 Honeysuckle Rose lyrics "album only" 07:25 Honeysuckle Rose
- sample lyrics "album only" 06:04 Pale lyrics "album only" 06:04 Pale lyrics "album only" 06:04 Pale
- sample lyrics "album only" 06:14 Beautiful Love lyrics "album only" 06:14 Beautiful Love lyrics "album only" 06:14 Beautiful Love
- sample lyrics "album only" 05:27 Poverty lyrics "album only" 05:27 Poverty lyrics "album only" 05:27 Poverty
- sample lyrics "album only" 15:46 Somewhere Over the Rainbow lyrics "album only" 15:46 Somewhere Over the Rainbow lyrics "album only" 15:46 Somewhere Over the Rainbow
An energetic and creative piano jazz/funk trio that is both beautiful and sizzling in its musical approach
Bio / Background
Mike Janzen is a piano playing puzzle. On the one hand (perhaps his left), Mike is a well trained classical musician with strong technical and music theory skills including a Bachelor of Music degree from Brandon University and a Masters of Composition from the University of Toronto. On the other, his musical journey includes forays into the worlds of rock, funk, folk and jazz.
For the past fourteen years, Mike has elected to make playing and improvising jazz a personal and professional priority. He has studied jazz with Dave Restivo, Mark Eisenman, Jim McNeely, Paul Read, Wayne Bowman, and David Braid. He has played with such luminaries as Hugh and Fergus Marsh, Ben Riley, George Koller, Andrew Downing, Frank Botos, Steve Bell, Pat Collins, Jacob Moon, Jennit Burke Miracle Quartet, SMJ Quartet, Ciara Adams and his own band, the pennymerchants.
Now living in Toronto with his wife Jodi, Mike is a regular on the Toronto music scene.
↓ more ↓Current projects include symphony arrangements for the Winnipeg Symphony, a film scoring project, studio work, live touring, and his brand new trio album Beginnings, with drummer Ben Riley (Bruce Cockburn, Michael Kaeshammer), renowned bassist George Koller (Holly Cole), Andrew Downing, and Frank Botos.
Two time JUNO award winner Steve Bell says, "Mike's extraordinary improvisational intuition and skill sets songs ablaze with virtuosity. And...he's just a great guy!"
"The longest journey begins with a single step" - so the saying goes. Of his jazz debut, Beginnings, Mike Janzen says the first step was the hardest.
From his own beginnings as a talented prairie kid through his increasingly noteworthy contributions to the Canadian independent music scene, Mike has retained a genuine humility that sometimes makes it hard for him to recognize the scope of his own talent. It took years of requests from his fans, friends and family, and ultimately the coercion of Jacob Moon to convice him to make this album at all.
Recorded live, this piano trio project draws on a combinatiion of original tunes, well loved songs from Mike's past, and jazz standards. Part high-wire improvisation, part solid groove, part inspired lullaby, Beginnings sparkles throughout with musical passion and wit.
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