John Bisset is a guitarist born in Manchester 1960.
In 1977 he was a co-founder of the Manchester Musician’s Collective, whose members included Trevor Wishart (pioneer of electronics and improvising vocalist), Tony Friel (cellist/bass player with the Fall) and Simon Holt (composer and artist). This eclectic mix of musicians and the correspondingly diverse gigs the collective put on at Manchester’s Band on the Wall was rich and wondrous; setting the pattern for Bisset’s trajectory, working in improvisation, songs, visual arts, and facilitating events and collective activity.
Moving to London in 1980 Bisset was part of the London Musician’s Collective, especially Maggie Nicols' Gathering – improvising with whoever arrived and whatever arose. Attempts to limit this, to achieve some intentional music, led to formation of The London Electric Guitar Orchestra, and Relay, and to participation in Butch Morris’s Skyscraper which continues as the London Improvisers Orchestra under Steve Beresford.
In 1993 Bisset was given the keys to a disused Art Gallery in North London. There was a large clock on the wall which was stopped at thirteen minutes past two. This seemed an apt symbol for improvised music; for being in the now. The 2:13 Club and cd label 2:13 Music was formed, with sisters in Berlin (Burkhard Beins) and Athens (Nikos Veliotis). The Annual event Relay (a large scale 'game-piece' for many musicians, utilising several venues) culminated in a two day performance in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, organised by Jane Rigler, and including Pauline Oliveros (developer of Deep Listening) among the 15 musicians.
In 2021, after ten years of obsessive film making with Ivor Kallin (213TV), and an increasing debility from arthritis and nerve damage, John took up the lap steel guitar and discovered Skronk, a weekly session run by Rick Jensen, where groups were selected at a moment’s notice, and thrust up on stage to play. The diversity of ages and backgrounds of musicians was invigorating, and many of the musicians he currently works with were encountered at Skronk.
He runs the Pool venue (in a disused swimming pool) with George Garford. The label 2:13 Music continues, with a more recent label for one-off cassettes Sugar in Puddle.
He has collaborated with countless artists, notably: Rhodri Davies, Maggie Nicols, Mark Sanders, Pat Thomas, Jem Finer, Burkhard Beins, and more recently Olga Ksendzovska, Julia Brüssel, Iris Colomb, George Garford, Milana Sarukhanyan and Dan Johnson.
In 1977 he was a co-founder of the Manchester Musician’s Collective, whose members included Trevor Wishart (pioneer of electronics and improvising vocalist), Tony Friel (cellist/bass player with the Fall) and Simon Holt (composer and artist). This eclectic mix of musicians and the correspondingly diverse gigs the collective put on at Manchester’s Band on the Wall was rich and wondrous; setting the pattern for Bisset’s trajectory, working in improvisation, songs, visual arts, and facilitating events and collective activity.
Moving to London in 1980 Bisset was part of the London Musician’s Collective, especially Maggie Nicols' Gathering – improvising with whoever arrived and whatever arose. Attempts to limit this, to achieve some intentional music, led to formation of The London Electric Guitar Orchestra, and Relay, and to participation in Butch Morris’s Skyscraper which continues as the London Improvisers Orchestra under Steve Beresford.
In 1993 Bisset was given the keys to a disused Art Gallery in North London. There was a large clock on the wall which was stopped at thirteen minutes past two. This seemed an apt symbol for improvised music; for being in the now. The 2:13 Club and cd label 2:13 Music was formed, with sisters in Berlin (Burkhard Beins) and Athens (Nikos Veliotis). The Annual event Relay (a large scale 'game-piece' for many musicians, utilising several venues) culminated in a two day performance in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, organised by Jane Rigler, and including Pauline Oliveros (developer of Deep Listening) among the 15 musicians.
In 2021, after ten years of obsessive film making with Ivor Kallin (213TV), and an increasing debility from arthritis and nerve damage, John took up the lap steel guitar and discovered Skronk, a weekly session run by Rick Jensen, where groups were selected at a moment’s notice, and thrust up on stage to play. The diversity of ages and backgrounds of musicians was invigorating, and many of the musicians he currently works with were encountered at Skronk.
He runs the Pool venue (in a disused swimming pool) with George Garford. The label 2:13 Music continues, with a more recent label for one-off cassettes Sugar in Puddle.
He has collaborated with countless artists, notably: Rhodri Davies, Maggie Nicols, Mark Sanders, Pat Thomas, Jem Finer, Burkhard Beins, and more recently Olga Ksendzovska, Julia Brüssel, Iris Colomb, George Garford, Milana Sarukhanyan and Dan Johnson.