It was a homecoming of sorts when Lisa Mezzacappa curated four nights at The Stone in late July. The bassist grew up in Staten Island but has been based in the Bay Area since 2001. While she makes regular return trips and collaborates with local players, The Stone residency was a chance for her to showcase fellow West Coast musicians. All are part of the roster of her self-run Queen Bee label, which under the banner “12/12” has been releasing a record a month, each a different project, since February.
The beginning of this ambitious endeavor coincided with Mezzacappa turning 50. “I had the idea last summer,” she wrote in an email. “In August I was driving alone for six hours to a concert in LA. It’s very dangerous for me to have a lot of uninterrupted time to think … it’s when I hatch schemes. A lot happened after the election that made me wonder if this was still a good idea, but then I saw how much the project was energizing my community and giving us all an excuse to put something positive into the world in the face of a lot of darkness and hopelessness. So I kept going.”
Musicians taking the means of production into their calloused hands is a long tradition, examples of which include Charles Mingus and his Debut imprint, co-founded with Max Roach. Queen Bee, after a nickname of Mezzacappa’s grandmother, launched in 2013 with two Mezzacappa projects and one by the band Bristle, of which she is a member.
The first release of 12/12, Luminous Axis, and the first set of The Stone residency, were called duo B., Mezzacappa and drummer Jason Levis in expansive dialogue, blurring any established roles assigned to rhythm section instruments. The last 12/12 release, slated for February 2026, Incomplete, Open, is also from this pair.
“I guess I don’t know that a bass and drums duo is any more bold or unusual than any other ensemble lineup?!” said Mezzacappa when asked about duo B. “I wanted to start the series with that because we’ve been playing together for almost 25 years and what we do together is pretty special. So much of what I do in so many other musical contexts comes from this really open yet rigorous mindset that Jason and I have cultivated in the duo.”
The Stone run also included saxophonist/clarinetist Cory Wright’s Green Mitchell Trio with Mezzacappa and Levis, a sparkling postbop vehicle heard on the March 2025 release Nature Channel. It featured the aforementioned Bristle with Wright, Mezzacappa, Randy McKean (saxes, clarinets) and Murray Campbell (oboes, violin), playing hybrid chamber-jazz written by Wright and McKean, with the Archimera album out this May.
There was also a pair of Mezzacappa bands: her wondrous Italo Calvino tribute Cosmicomics and another called 5(ish), playing a new suite called othrwrldly, both drawing their lineup for the shows Aaron Bennett (tenor saxophone), Kyle Bruckmann (oboes, synthesizer), Mark Clifford (vibraphone), Brett Carson (piano, keyboard) and Jordan Glenn (drums). The group will be featured on 12/12’s January 2026 release under Mezzacappa’s leadership, with her music to be recorded later this year. The run at The Stone was partially underwritten by the New York–based nonprofit Foundation for Contemporary Arts.
The rest of the 12/12 schedule has or will see sets by Glenn’s BEAK; a set matching duo B. with ROVA saxophone quartet member Steve Adams; trombonist Rob Ewing’s band SIFTER; Schenck’s quintet with guitarist Matt Wrobel; guitarist-vocalist David James’s Mission Rebel No. 1; and two large ensembles, the Oakland Reductionist Orchestra led by Matt Ingalls, and Astrolabe, a new suite by a greatly expanded version of the Nathan Clevenger Group.
The varying styles, sizes, approaches, personnel and relationships are meant to highlight a fertile local scene, with Mezzacappa at the center.
“These groups are led by peers/friends I really respect, whose work I want to lift up in any way I can,” Mezzacappa remarked. “The list of 12 filled up fast. I’m interested in the idea of a collective sound, a regional musical practice that I think comes into focus when you listen to these different projects together as a collection.
“Almost immediately upon moving to the Bay Area, I saw the DIY ethos at the foundation of the music scene and I think I just followed suit. I learned from watching people like Phillip Greenlief, Rent Romus, Dan Plonsey, Gino Robair, Matt Ingalls, ROVA and others who just made opportunities for themselves and the broader community. We are [still] influencing and inspiring each other, and we’re richer as individuals when considered in this larger context of our scene.” JT