Jazz bassist and Troy native returns home
TROY, N.Y. >> Jazz bassist and Troy native Michael Bisio will perform a hometown show this Saturday with his one- of-a-kind Accortet.
Named after its unusual instrumentation, Accortet is the eponymous debut of a quartet led by renowned contrabassist Michael Bisio
hronicling Bisio’s life as a composer in song form and otherwise, his Accortet balances freedom and swing in a compelling quartet.
Saturday’s lineup will include a unique frontline of accordion and saxophone, played by Art Bailey and Adam Seigel, respectively, with Michael Wimberly manning the drums.
An in- demand sideman among free jazz luminaries such as Joe McPhee, Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp, Bisio seldom issues albums as a bandleader these days, but this September he will hit the studio with Accortet to record some new material.
But before then, Bisio’s summer concert schedule is filling up, starting with this local show in his stomping grounds.
The all- ages performance will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the The Sanctuary for Independent Media, a community media arts center located in an historic former church at 3361 Sixth Avenue in North Troy.
Prior to gaining such acclaim in the music world, Bisio grew up in Troy, not far from the South End Tavern.
“Troy before the renaissance was a very cool place,” Bisio said. “It had many, many, many great musicians.”
Although he didn’t start playing until high school, “I was around great music all the time,” Bisio said. “Troy was always a very both different and inspirational place.” He continued, “I owe a lot to my brother and all of his musician friends. In high school I got to associate with some really wonderful guitar gods who are still guitar gods today.”
Bisio first picked up a Fender bass as a teenager. About a year later he walked into the band room at Troy High School at met Mr. Kane, who let him try the school’s one and only bass that was hanging on the wall. “I could do nothing with it,” Bisio said, but after studying under an inspirational bass teacher, he started to improve.
“I used to practice a lot, a lot a lot,” Bisio recalls. “I would sometimes practice for 24 hours.”
When Bisio turned 20, he moved across the country to Seattle. He then lived there for 30 years, before moving back east to New York City, even returning to Troy for a while before settling into an artist community called The Lace Mill in Kingston, where he resides now.
Bisio doesn’t get to play in the Collar City often, but when he does, it’s special. Saturday’s show will be his first time playing with his Accortet at the Sanctuary, where he’s performed with other groups before.
Both of his almost89-year- old parents will be in attendance, along with plenty of other family and old friends.
The rest of the audience will likely be people who have rarely or never heard Bisio perform, a group he also enjoys entertaining.
Tickets to Saturday’s event are $15, available at the door or in advance at www.mediasanctuary.org/ accortet.
More information about Michael Bisio’s Accortet, along with his other projects, can be found at michaelbisio.com.