Interview with a Dutch jazz musician, Wim Janssen (Heiloo, 1949)
Wim Janssen ( Heiloo, 1949) was a professional visual artist, but it did not take long before he became involved in improvisational groups of his brother Guus’, like the various septets or the piano trio with Ernst Glerum. He was a member of groups like Cosmos Pictures: with Michael Moore, Oene van Geel, Ernst Glerum and Guus Janssen and also played in the Palinckxquartet, Paul Termos’ Dubbel Expres, Specs and the Gravitones and the As If Trio. Currently, he is a member of the “Plots” with Ziv Taubenfeld (bass clarinet), Frank van Bommel (piano) and Joost Buis (trombone) and plays in a piano trio with Frank van Bommel and Dion Nijland (counter bass). But besides being a drummer, he is also a visual artist specialised in oil paintings. His work has frequently been exhibited, both individually and in groups, in galleries and museums. He designed CD covers and, in the 80s, made cartoons of musicians for the monthly jazz magazine “Nu”. For years, he has been a teacher at the “Rietveld Academie” and the “Design-academy in Eindhoven. Wim Janssen is a musician who is happy to play along the established lines, but who is not afraid to take a liberal approach.
Playlist:
– Waltz for Debby; Bill Evans Trio
– Autumn Leaves; Bob Dylan
– I Mean; Guus Janssen, Ernst Glerum and Wim Janssen
– from Dido and Aeneas, Henry Purcell; Monteverdi Choir Hamburg
– A Bit Nervous; Misja Mengelberg, Brad Jones, Joey Baron
– Marschello; Guus Janssen, Oene van Geel, Michael Moore, Ernst Glerum and Wim Janssen
– Utrus horas; Orchestra Baobab
– Goose Walking; de Commotie
