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Ben Jansson has played gigs opening up for the Count Basie Orchestra, Eartha Kitt, Dave Brubeck and Ray Charles. Ben has also played with vocal great Aretha Franklin and in September 2006 was a featured soloist for jazz great Diane Schuur along with the Wayne State University bigband at the Detroit International Jazz Festival. As a leader, the Ben Jansson Quintet recently recorded its first album at the Firefly Club in Ann Arbor, Michigan (Dec. 2006). The CD Features guitarist Randy Napoleon, Pianist Rick Roe, bassist Paul keller, and drummer Pete Siers. Ben's playing is Straight-ahead, a mix of fiery bebop and hard driving swing. He has recorded several of his own compositions and arrangements and continues to compose and progress as a musician. Recently, Ben has taken part in two recording projects. One under the leadership of bassist Paul Keller and a two tenor album under the leadership of Pete Siers (PSQ). Both recordings should be out in the next couple of months on the PKO record lable.
Originally, beginning on the Alto saxophone Ben switched over to tenor sax at the age of sixteen while attending Community High School in Ann Arbor, MI and studying with multi-instrumentalist and jazz educator Mike Grace. At this time Ben also began to study with Detroit's legendary saxophonist George Benson and while still in high school Mr. Benson invited Ben to sit in with his quartet at the Botsford Inn Jazz festival in Detroit. In 1996 Ben moved to Toronto, Canada to begin studying exclusively with renowned jazz saxophonist Pat Labarbera at Humber College. While in Toronto Ben had the opportunity to play and learn from many of Canada's finest jazz musicians including: Pat Labarbera, Don Thompson, Phil Dwyer, Jake Wilkinson, Josh Brown, Mike Murley, Kevin Turcotte, Alex Dean and Bernie Senensky.
In 2003 Ben moved back to Ann Arbor to attend Wayne State University. He is currently living in East Lansing and working on a Masters degree at MSU.
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