Benched

About the Book

A hilarious firsthand account of jazz life in and out of the trenches. Includes eight behind-the-scenes stories plus hand-picked highlights from the long-running advice column Mr. P.C.'s Guide to Jazz Etiquette and Bandstand Decorum.

Pianist/composer Bill Anschell has performed at major festivals and concert venues across the U.S., Europe, and South America and has released numerous critically acclaimed CDs. Between tours and recording dates, he's accompanied a faith healer, a dancing potato chip, and a hand-fart artist, and made special appearances in a Kroger checkout lane and a dog cone.

About the Author :
Pianist Bill Anschell has performed in top venues throughout the U.S. and abroad, both leading his trio and as pianist/musical director for vocalist Nnenna Freelon. His concert credits include eight European tours with Freelon and seven South American tours with his trio, including concerts in many of the leading international jazz festivals.Anschell was the creator, producer and theme music composer for "JazzSouth," a syndicated radio program broadcast from 1990-2002 on more than 200 stations around the world. In 1998 his CD, "a different note all together," was selected by UPI (United Press International) as one of the year's "10 Best" jazz releases. That CD and his two follow-up releases "When Cooler Heads Prevail" (2001) and "More to the Ear than Meets the Eye" (2006) both enjoyed critical acclaim and extensive stays on the national jazz radio charts. His 2009 duo CD of spontaneous improvisations with saxophonist Brent Jensen was described by "Cadence" magazine as "startlingly beautiful, surprising, and powerful...a transforming experience." Both his 2018 CD, "Rumbler," and his 2024 electro-acoustic CD "Improbable Solutions" made "downbeat" magazine's "best of the year" listings, and describing Anschell's 2021 CD, "Shifting Standards," "Stereophile" magazine writer Thomas Conrad wrote "They enter an atmosphere where nothing is certain except the truths of human emotion, and even those truths must be reaffirmed moment to moment, in order to prevail over silence." A Seattle native, Anschell returned to the Emerald City in 2002 after a long residency in Atlanta, Georgia. He received Earshot's Golden Ear Award as the "Northwest Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year" in 2005, 2010 and 2011; his trio was named "Northwest Acoustic Jazz Ensemble of the Year" in 2006; his "Figments" CD was named "Northwest Jazz Recording of the Year in 2011. In 2016 Anschell was inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame.As a composer, Anschell has had original pieces featured more than 90 times on network and cable programs including NBC's "The West Wing," HBO's "The Wire," and Paramount Plus' "Yellowstone." Anschell is also well-known in the jazz world as a humorist. In 2014 he was a winner of the inaugural Paul Desmond Award, allaboutjazz.com's celebration of the funniest jazz artists, and in 2025 he released his debut jazz humor book, "Benched."

Review :

"It would be terrifying if it weren't so funny." Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes