Lisa Mezzacappa is a San Francisco Bay Area-based composer, bassist, and bandleader whose work spans avant-garde jazz, chamber music, electro-acoustic composition, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Praised as "one of the most imaginative figures on the Bay Area creative jazz scene" (The Mercury News), she has led a wide range of acclaimed projects including Cosmicomics, avantNOIR, Organelle, and Glorious Ravage. A tireless collaborator and curator, she co-leads the duo B., organizes the Do-Over Music Series, and has performed with creative luminaries such as Fred Frith, Nicole Mitchell, and Myra Melford. Her work has been supported by major foundations and released on respected labels including Clean Feed, New World, and Leo Records.

What draws you to the instrument(s) you play, and/or to composing?

I got some great advice years ago from a good friend and collaborator, when I first started composing — to write the music I wanted to play. I think I have been doing that for like 25 years now! The concept has served me well. And I would add, for the people you want to play it with. So much of my musical inspiration comes from the singular artistic personalities in my music community in the SF Bay Area. As improvisers, composers, bandleaders, fellow instigators — I am continually fed by the work and creative energy they are putting into the world.

What deceased performer(s), improviser(s), or composer(s) would you most like to have a conversation with?

Pina Bausch. Fred Hopkins. György Ligeti. Paul Chambers. Harry Partch. Robert Ashley. Luciano Berio. Prince. And these are just the folks on my mind today.

What musician most influenced your approach to music?

I was very fortunate to be taken under the wing(s) of a handful of wonderful musicians and humans early in my career as a student bass player, in Charlottesville VA: John D'earth, Pete Spaar, Mike Rosensky, Jamal Millner, Jeff Decker, Aaron Binder, and Robert Jospe all had such an impact on me in those formative years. After school, I studied with Michael Formanek, and lurking at his gigs on the NY downtown scene in the late '90s as a young musician was really formative. Later, I participated in some workshops with Henry Threadgill that completely re-arranged my atoms as a musician and artist.

Who or what influences you most outside of music?

Living in a gorgeous corner of planet Earth in Northern California, I find the natural world is a big inspiration. Ever since I was a kid, literature, visual art, and cinema have been a big part of how I understand and process the world, almost as much as music. So I think my connection to those other media, disciplines, often finds its way into my music in both literal and oblique ways.

What advice would you give to a young musician entering your field?

Developing a solid work ethic is just as important as having talent or inspiration. Just do it, show up, make the time, keep at it! Even if sometimes you have to trick yourself into thinking this is all worth it.

What do you hope audiences take away from experiencing your music?

My compositions often reflect my curiosity about the world, and are a way for me to process and extend or elaborate on the things that fascinate me — whether it's a science fiction story or a work of visual art or an aspect of history. So I hope those shared interests resonate in my music, even for listeners who don't necessarily identify with a particular musical "genre" or "style" that I am associated with. I often use the word "handmade" to describe my music, since it is developed with so much care and specificity rooted in the sounds and abilities of the musicians I work with and the community we are part of.

Where are you currently located or musically associated with?

I have been part of the SF Bay Area music community for nearly 25 years now! It's a really inspiring and stimulating moment out there right now, with lots of great concert series, engaged audiences, and super creative projects happening.

What is your musical education or background?

I started playing music as a kid in the suburbs of NYC, first clarinet then alto saxophone in elementary school bands and orchestras, then electric bass in rock and metal and hardcore bands with my friends. In college I took up the upright bass, and it kind of took over me... I went to grad school for ethnomusicology in Berkeley and became immersed in the scene out here, where I learned to be a composer, bandleader, and organizer in our arts community.