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Michael Formanek Live plus new and forthcoming releases
by Bob Osborne
In this edition of the show there are lots of new and forthcoming releases including music from the Orbit577, Edition Records and ears&eyes labels. I am also continuing my exploration of the back catalogue of Italian saxophonist Felice Clemente. The main focus of the show is new work from impressive guitarist Dan Pitt, and, a fascinating meeting between Florian Arbenz and Greg Osby. I also feature an exciting live album from the bassist and composer Michael Formanek which features music ...
Continue ReadingThumbscrew: The Anthony Braxton Project
by Mark Sullivan
The Thumbscrew trio celebrates avant-garde legend Anthony Braxton's 75th birthday with this project. Given access to the Tricentric Archives of Braxton's work, they focused on previously unrecorded pieces by the composer, multi-wind master and bandleader. In addition to their playing history together guitarist Mary Halvorson, double bassist Michael Formanek and drummer/vibraphonist Tomas Fujiwara have all had extensive experience working with Braxton, making them ideally suited to these interpretations of his music. Seeking scores that fired their imaginations (as ...
Continue ReadingMichael Formanek Very Practical Trio: Even Better
by Giuseppe Segala
Trigonometria musicale? Triangolazioni sonore? Certamente, la formula del trio ha sempre riscosso un'attenzione speciale nel jazz, non solamente nella sua forma classica e costantemente esplorata, che affianca pianoforte, contrabbasso e batteria. In particolare Jimmy Giuffre, negli anni Cinquanta e Sessanta, ne ha esplorato con grande profondità e acume alcune possibili varianti, sondando dinamiche, centri di gravità e connessioni, applicandole agli organici strumentali allora più insoliti e giungendo a risultati tuttora ricchi di significato, soprattutto insieme a Paul Bley e Steve ...
Continue ReadingMichael Formanek Very Practical Trio: Even Better
by Don Phipps
Composer and bassist Michael Formanek's Even Better is an adventurous compilation of bluesy abstractions with surprising twists and turns. Opting for a drummer-less trio format, Formanek gives himself room to negotiate the terrain with his own intimate rhythm. He is aided and abetted by his longtime collaborator, saxophonist virtuoso Tim Berne, and guitarist extraordinaire Mary Halvorson. Formanek's style of playing is relaxed. His runs up and down the neck of the bass are, even at their most intense, ...
Continue ReadingMara Rosenbloom, Thumbscrew & Nation Beat
by Martin Longley
Mara Rosenbloom/Melanie Dyer/Ken Filiano/Rashaan Carter Soup & Sound April 10, 2019 It's an old tradition, sometimes out of necessity, for artists to host low-key gigs in their own homes. The hyper-inventive and often powerfully percussive drummer Andrew Drury has been offering soup and sound for quite a while now, opening his front door in Lefferts Avenue, Brooklyn, to improvised music enthusiasts on a monthly basis. Not so surprisingly, Drury calls the series Soup & ...
Continue ReadingMichael Formanek Elusion Quartet: Time Like This
by John Sharpe
Bassist Michael Formanek has become a major presence on the NYC scene over the last decade, both as a forward-looking bandleader and a sideman. His two small-group offerings, The Rub And Spare Change (2010) and Small Places (2012), both on ECM, were justly feted and lead to the acclaimed big-band set The Distance (2016) by his Ensemble Kolossos which cemented his reputation. On Time Like This he rings the changes on the cast as he debuts his new ...
Continue ReadingMichael Formanek Elusion Quartet: Time Like This
by Glenn Astarita
In the olden days of jazz, an album consisting of trailblazing instrumentalists akin to these performers may have been billed as Michael Formanek and his All-Stars instead of a band moniker. Nonetheless, the Elusion Quartet lives up to preconceived or implicit expectations. Consequently, the heavyweight lineup imparts an abundance of mood-eliciting and symmetrical works, along with other components for our psyche's to nibble on. As a premise for this session, Michael Formanek says he sought “a more ...
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