more from
Whirlwind Recordings
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Worlds Collide

by Michael Janisch

/
  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    High quality, 6 panel digifile with a velvety soft-touch laminate finish & an 8-page booklet

    Includes unlimited streaming of Worlds Collide via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $14 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Comes with album artwork booklet PDF + album cover photo as a jpg
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 USD  or more

     

  • 12" 2x Gatefold LP (Heavy Splatter - Orange Vinyl) - 180 Gram - Limited Edition Etched Vinyl (2nd Pressing)
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    High quality, 180 gram, 12" 2x Gatefold LP with Heavy Splatter Orange Vinyl (3 sides of music - A, B, C and etched D side with Whirlwind Logo Mark) - comes with download code containing the digital album in multiple formats

    Includes unlimited streaming of Worlds Collide via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • 12" 2x Gatefold LP (Heavy Splatter - Orange Vinyl) - 180 Gram - Limited Edition Etched Vinyl (1st Pressing)
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    High quality, 180 gram, 12" 2x Gatefold LP with Heavy Splatter Orange Vinyl (3 sides of music - A, B, C and etched D side with Whirlwind Logo Mark) - comes with download code containing the digital album in multiple formats

    Includes unlimited streaming of Worlds Collide via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
2.
3.
4.
Frocklebot 09:05
5.
Intro to Pop 01:14
6.
Pop 14:02
7.
Freak Out 07:25

about

PERSONNEL

Michael Janisch - double and electric basses, post production percussion
Jason Palmer - trumpet 
John O'Gallagher - alto saxophone 
Rez Abbasi - guitar
Clarence Penn - drums 

Guests:

John Escreet - keys
George Crowley - tenor saxophone
Andrew Bain - drums and percussion

ALBUM CREDITS

Recorded at Studio 3, Abbey Road Studios (Nov 12th, 2017)
Engineered by Tyler McDiarmid
Assistant engineer - Matt Mysko
Additional recording at Nonsuch Park Studio (Jan 26, 2019)
with George Crowley and Andrew Bain
Engineered by Julian Kindred
Additional Recording in NYC with John Escreet (Jan 2019)
Produced by Michael Janisch
Mixed and Mastered by Tyler McDiarmid
Executive Producer Michael Janisch
Original Canvas Painting 'Worlds Collide' - Bernard David
Graphic Design - Monika S Jakubowska
Photography - Rob Blackham

credits

released September 6, 2019

ABOUT THE ALBUM

Following the breadth of 2015’s live and post-processed electro-acoustic release Paradigm Shift, bassist Michael Janisch launches new project Worlds Collide with a band featuring saxophonist John O’Gallagher, trumpeter Jason Palmer, guitarist Rez Abbasi and drummer Clarence Penn. Recorded in Abbey Road’s legendary Studio 3, and engineered/mastered by Tyler McDiarmid, it also includes guest saxophonist George Crowley, keyboardist John Escreet and drummer/percussionist Andrew Bain.

Tirelessly active as solo artist, session player, composer, producer and record label owner across the British, US and European scenes, Janisch recalls the beginnings of this creative shift in direction. “At the 2017 EFG London Jazz Festival, a triple bill of Whirlwind bands was showcased by Serious at Rich Mix, where I was thrilled to premiere a sequence of new music that I’d been writing. The original tour (mainly in the UK) featured this core band who had all come over from New York; but excitingly, as a project recording, it now provides a springboard for me to develop and perform these and upcoming compositions with other line-ups, including the next phase with fellow London-based artists. The influence of living in the capital, over the past fifteen years, has crept into my musical being, so I see this new era as a big transition.”

Twofold title ‘Worlds Collide’ primarily speaks of the variety in Janisch’s six engaging tracks. Each is quite different to its neighbor because this is a collection of individual pieces written over a period of time, often personal in their inspiration, driven purely out of his mindset and experiences in those moments. But he also sees it as analogous to what is going on in the wider world right now, especially the continual toxicity of social disclosure driven by tribalist views from differing positions on the political spectrum.”

The rock-driven strut of ‘Another London’, with fundamental ostinato bass groove, guitar-and-synth vistas and lush horns, reflects Janisch’s positive view of walking through this great city – away from the bile of social media platforms, clear evidence of “people from different cultures and backgrounds actually getting on in their lives, generally living in harmony with each other.” It’s a decidedly cool groove, interspersed with contemplation, featuring an epic alto arc from O’Gallagher (“Everyone’s ‘the best’, right? But John really is one of the very best”). Rez Abbasi’s mesmeric guitar figure maps out ‘An Ode to a Norwegian Strobe’ (Janisch is a big fan of Strobes and Aphex Twin, as well as regularily performs with Norway’s jazz star Marius Neset), and its sumptuous buoyancy is fully explored by the band to cinematic conclusion.

‘The JJ Knew’ – a personal, family lament originating as spontaneous improv on Michael’s previous album – illuminates its foundational melancholy with positive thought. His fabulously mobile Fender is still at heart of this questioning episode, and it’s a great result of his assertion that “improvisation is right-in-the-moment composition, so why not just trust in it?” Kids can be massively, even randomly creative, and the free-spirited nature of ‘Frocklebot’ is named after “an imaginary toy looking like a giraffe with mechanical wings” created by the bassist’s daughter. Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry might be summoned in this exploratory world developing free solos between Palmer and Abbasi, then Janisch and O’Gallagher.

A beautiful alto intro to four-part mini-suite ‘Pop’ (‘poppet’, dedicated to Sarah, his wife) belies its minor key with a happy, sunshiny glow, the slow and glorious progression reflecting her “peaceful powerfulness”; and ‘Freak Out’ – a tricksy “good old-fashioned shred for Rez” with near-on big-band hits finds the guitarist building sheets of sound redolent of ‘70s McLaughlin and Holdsworth.

The technical and emotional wonder of Worlds Collide was nailed in Clarence Penn’s immediate, adrenalin-rushed quip to Michael Janisch, once the whole album was ‘wrapped’: “Congratulations on a great record – you’re really gonna turn some heads with this!” What he was chiefly getting at is the simple truth that, right here, is a celebration of boundary-crossing contemporary jazz unfolding in all its captivating, artistic magnificence. Janisch has glimpsed a new horizon for himself and, with inimitable verve, is going for it.

PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

"Michael Janisch is a keen electric and double bassist and composer in his own right... His latest album, the excellent 'Worlds Collide'..."
Grammy (Official website of the Grammy Awards)

"[Another London] is taken from 'Worlds Collide', it's a fantastic group piece, led by that intoxicating bassline."
CLASH MUSIC

"This new songbook draws a coherent line through groove, swing and avant-garde sensibilities... Impressively helmed by a bandleader who is in the ascendant."
★★★★ Jazzwise Magazine

"Worlds Collide is a worthy addition to the Janisch solo canon, a recording that demonstrates his increasing skill and maturity as a musician and composer. The playing, by an all star cast, is excellent throughout with the leader's contribution at the heart of the ensemble."
★★★★★ The Jazz Mann

"First and foremost, Michael Janisch is a bassist... Besides his talents as a performing artist, his entrepreneurial skills as a record producer are undeniable."
DownBeat Magazine

"Modern and edgy, the music on Worlds Collide has its sources in rock, hard-bop and free: this clash of worlds according to Janisch is a fascinating journey."
Jazz à bâbord

"Worlds Collide is a rich and varied collective of music, full of vitality and optimism. The album has a great sound, with all the instruments having depth, punch and clarity. Janisch's writing allows the soloists the space to create and results in some engaging, memorable music."
London Jazz News

"With Worlds Collide Janisch has glimpsed a new horizon for himself and, with inimitable verve, is going for it."
Jazz in Europe

"Orchestrally rich but never opaque, and always with gates wide open for sparkling solos."
Jazz Journal

"Stuffed full with many good things about improvised jazz music. Combining technical wizardry and tweaks with good, solid playing, the music does not so much cross boundaries but rather unites them."
Free Jazz Collective

"Intriguing harmonies and textures throughout. Lots of creative ideas that sound smart but also fun."
Jazz Weekly

"A strong lineup, and the compositions — all new — give them plenty to work with... High-speed collective outbursts and thoughtful but still extroverted solos"
Stereogum

"Rock feel sits alongside jazz, melody crashes into improv, tight arrangements give way to jagged passages... A very impressive recording – collisions indeed, but in a rather good way."
★★★★ UK Vibe

"Sometimes slow and lyrical, sometimes invigorating but always with incredible proficiency from all."
Jazzma

"Perfectly thought out compositions and richly modern arrangements colored with powerful jazz improvisation."
Jazz Poland

"A title that alludes to the musical variety expressed in each of the pieces."
El Intrus

"Worlds Collide is an exciting, contemporary album…the music reflects the cosmopolitan flavour of London."
Cosmic Jazz

“Adopted Londoner Michael Janisch’s 'Worlds Collide' presents compelling small group playing of the very highest order.”
ArtsDesk

"As a whole the album is focussed and varied, with plenty of memorable hooks."
Presto Jazz (Record of the Week)

“Michael Janisch has found himself a new horizon and sets out to reach it with inimitable vigour.”
Medien Info

“A wonderful party of cross-border contemporary jazz.”
Rhein Main Magazin

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Michael Janisch London, UK

The Whirlwind Artist Page for electric & double bassist, producer, solo artist, founder and MD of Whirlwind Recordings.

“Janisch is one of the few bass players out there who plays both electric and upright with equal facility, passion and musicality.”
Bass Musician Magazine
... more

contact / help

Contact Michael Janisch

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Michael Janisch, you may also like: