Bill Anschell is a jazz pianist and composer. He has recorded seven CDs as a leader, and performed or recorded with many jazz greats. His original compositions and piano work are prominently featured on Freelon's Grammy Award-nominated recording Shaking Free (Concord Records) and her CBS recordings Heritage and Listen. His own CDs have received extensive national airplay and critical acclaim. His compositions have appeared in many films and television series, including "The West Wing," "The Wire," "Bloodline," and "NCIS: LA." Performances Anschell has performed in jazz festivals and clubs throughout the United States and abroad, leading his band, the Bill Anschell Trio, and as pianist, composer and musical director for vocalist Nnenna Freelon and others. His concert credits include seven European tours and eight South American tours, in top international festivals ranging from the Nice Jazz Festival in France to the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands. Anschell has performed thousands of concerts in the United States, from the Monterey Jazz Festival in California to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. His performances have been widely broadcast on radio and television including National Public Radio's JazzSet, hosted by Branford Marsalis. Background Anschell grew up in the Seattle area and graduated from Mercer Island High School. He attended Oberlin College and Wesleyan University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a music degree from Wesleyan in 1982. At Wesleyan, he studied composition privately with Bill Barron; and South Indian rhythmic theory with T. Ranganathan. He later spent three years in Madison, Wisconsin, where he worked with bassist Richard Davis. From 1989 to 2002 Anschell was based out of Atlanta. During his first three years there he served as Jazz Coordinator for the Southern Arts Federation, creating a host of regional projects including JazzSouth, a syndicated radio program broadcast on more than 200 stations around the world. Anschell left the SAF Jazz Coordinator post in 1992 to focus on his performing and composing career, but continued to produce JazzSouth through 2002. From 1992 to 2002, Anschell's trio appeared in events across the Southeast, including the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, the Atlanta Jazz Festival, and Piccolo Spoleto. In 2001, he was selected by the American Composers Forum for its "Composer-in-the-Schools" program; his residency included a commissioned piece for chamber orchestra. In 2002 Anschell moved from Atlanta to Seattle, Washington where he performs with other resident artists and visiting jazz