With forays into jazz, classical and pop music, Mike Janzen has established himself as a unique talent in Canada. A classically trained pianist and composer with a lifelong devotion to jazz, he has “a rare and infectious gift” (Steve Bell) that has been showcased in varied venues across Canada. Janzen has worked and performed with luminary musicians such as Hugh Marsh, Daniel Lanois, Kevin Breit, Phil Dwyer, Sarah Slean, Andrew Downing, Davide DiRenzo, and Steve Bell. His jazz trio includes George Koller (bass) and Larnell Lewis (drums).
The Mike Janzen Trio’s 2011 album Try to Remember is a salute to Broadway that Christopher Loudon (The Jazz Times) deemed “equally distinctive and sublime.” The album inspired Janzen’s original orchestra show, Reimagining Broadway. In 2014, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra debuted his “brilliant, textural orchestrations” of Broadway tunes (Holly Harris, Winnipeg Free Press) together with the Trio and guest vocalist Sarah Slean.
Janzen combines his considerable jazz talent with his gift for composing in his latest recording, Nudging Forever (November 2015), which melds the richness of a 20-piece string orchestra with the spontaneity of a jazz quartet. This singular and imaginative endeavour displays his unique talent in both jazz and classical spheres.