Cd's
Fresh Jazz
WAYout-EWout
Bands
Markus Türk Quintet
|
Tom Janssen was born in 1963 in a little village in the Netherlands. As a kid he liked to play with a cheap cheesy organ and listened to the records of his older brother.
This was mainly rock music: Thin Lizzy, Kiss, Rainbow, Deep Purple, etc. Soon he discovered his own taste for symphonic rockmusic: Rush, Genesis, Yes, Kansas, UK, etc.
At the age of 17 he bought his first very cheap bassguitar. A few hours later he played the famous bassline from Queen's number one record Another One Bites The Dust.
He played in a few local bands and soon he started to study double-bass with jazz bassplayer Henk Haverhoek, who lived in the same little village. This eventually led to a double-bass study at the conservatory in the "big" city of Arnhem. In this period he listened a lot to jazz and specially to the music of Pat Metheny, Weather Report and Joe Zawinul. He liked the sound of the fretless bass and the colors that came from all the keyboards and synthesizers.
Since 1992 Tom Janssen is a bass teacher at the musicschool of Arnhem and a professional bassplayer. For ten years or so he played mainly in jazzbands and in the disco weddingband The Nightbirds. He recorded two jazz CD's with The Markus Turk Quintet.
In the year of 2000 a friend gave him a CD from Spock's Beard. This awoke his old love for symphonic rockmusic. He discovered that this music was still alive and kicking. Soon he was listening to a new generation of progressive bands like Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Magenta, Neal Morse, etc. He also rediscovered the works of Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Marillion, Pink Floyd, etc.
He started to build his own STUDIO 737 and to record his own music. In 2004 he released his first album Are You Surprised. The critics were good but it didn't sell in great numbers. For some it was to poppy. Tom Janssen also likes good songwriters like Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, Crowded House, Paul Simon, John Mayer, etc. For others it was to progressive.
Now in 2006 Tom Janssen has recorded a new album. It is completely focused on his love for symphonic rock music. Scenes From The Box is a concept album. It's the story of a man who finds a little box, which should be kept closed.
The man can't resist temptation and opens the lillywhite box. This will change his life forever. He looses everything he had and starts travelling. He sinks deep, enters a nightmare and he has to work hard to close the little box again. He leaves behind a woman in despair. She's hates the man, but she's also missing him. The third character is a guardian angel, called The Keeper. The three characters are represented by three different vocalists. Three great voices to complete the music. In the end the man closes the box. He finds a new direction in his life. Music. He can go home now and he is stronger than before........
When Tom Janssen is not in his studio, or teaching, or with his wife and two kids, you can find him on the stage. He plays live with Elles Springs, a pop/rock band around singer-songwriter Elles Jansen, no family. She can also be heard on Scenes From The Box. He also plays live with The Bernard Brogue Band. This is a band around singer-songwriter Bernard Brogue. They play his folk songs with influences from pop, jazz and rockmusic. They have recently recorded a new album called Escape The Day.
|
|
