ABOUT THE ALBUM

A Spy In Tortuga is Jeff Lisenby's first independent jazz accordion album, and features several brand-new original compositions by Lisenby, as well as several reinvented jazz standards. The instrumentation is traditional jazz quartet: bass, drums, guitar... and accordion. The additional sax, vocalist, keyboards, or percussion here and there enhance the album well.

"The accordion has been stereotyped for a long time," Lisenby said. "I want people to hear this CD, enjoy it for its diversity, and hear the accordion as another fine musical instrument, which can be used in any type of music."

Lisenby can be heard on numerous country and Christian recordings and recently worked as the Music Director for the Broadway musical "Ring Of Fire". When asked why he chose to record a jazz album, Lisenby answered, "I grew up in Kansas City, MO, where there is a jazz commission, as part of the city government. Because of that, I grew up hearing many of the great national jazz figures who came to town to play for us -- Count Basie, Monty Alexander, Maynard Fergusson, Bill Evans, Chick Corea.

So I've been loving and playing jazz for a long time. I like the freedom to play whatever I want in the improvised sections, and I like the sound of a big band all playing in ensemble." He also adds, "There aren't a lot of jazz accordionists around, but accordion is slowly coming back into style in the United States. We're hearing it on more and more pop albums. It seems like a good time to put a jazz accordion CD on the market."

The result? Anyone who listens will be forced to admit, on some level, accordion is decidedly cool.


WHAT THE INDUSTRY IS SAYING ABOUT JEFF LISENBY..."Jeff is one of those rare musical talents that can play multiple styles with such ease; and all of this on an accordion." - accordionusa.com.

"Musical director Jeff Lisenby's playing (of keyboards, accordion, and numerous other instruments) is always expert."
- Matthew Murray, TalkinBroadway.com
"There isn't any style that he can't play." -Emily Iorg, The Kansas City Star

ABOUT JEFF LISENBY, jazz accordionist extraordinaire. Think “accordion” and “jazz” don’t belong in the same sentence? Just wait, it gets better.

Lisenby, who holds a master’s degree from The Conservatory of Music of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, is no stranger to musical oxymorons. His experience runs the gamut of styles.

He has twice been the national accordion champion and a bronze medalist in the Coupe Mondiale international classical accordion competitions. That may not sound like a big deal to us in the U.S., but in Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, China, and New Zealand, where the accordion is as common as the guitar, it’s huge. But classical music wasn’t the only style he practiced.

“When I was a kid,” Lisenby said, “my goal was to win the world accordion championship, which was for ‘serious’ music. So I was practicing 7-8 hours a day when I was a teenager. I would get tired of practicing the ‘heavy’ music, and then I would start playing pop or jazz standard tunes and improvising on them. It was a good musical mix for me.”

Lisenby used his genius on the accordion and keyboards to carve a niche market for himself, and gained performances with the Nashville, Kansas City, and Los Angeles Symphonies, the Palm Beach Pops Orchestra, and a gig accompanying Luciano Pavarotti during part of his U.S. tour.

Certainly not limited to classical music, Lisenby toured extensively with the Mills Brothers, Boots Randolph, and Brenda Lee, and has accompanied Lee Greenwood, Donna Summer, Tricia Yearwood, Three-Dog Night, the Coasters, David Cassidy, Marty Stuart, Jo Dee Messina, Pam Tillis, Loretta Lynn, Roy Clark, and Dolly Parton, to name a few.

Most recently, Lisenby was honored to be the music director on Broadway for RING OF FIRE: The Music of Johnny Cash, for which he pulled from his extensive experience backing country artists in Nashville.

Lisenby is also one of the first-call accordionists for recording sessions in Nashville. Projects he has worked on include the Grammy-winning album: “Songs from the Neighborhood; the Music of Mister Rogers”, and jingles for Budweiser and Sutherland’s Lumber (which he also wrote and produced).

When he’s not on the road performing around the country, Lisenby teaches for Belmont University’s School of Music and is active in the Nashville recording scene.