Home » Jazz Articles » Michael Formanek
Jazz Articles about Michael Formanek
Mark Sullivan's Best Releases of 2016
by Mark Sullivan
So many reviews this year, in so many genres, that I've split them into two categories--"Jazz" and “Latin, World & Experimental"--in response to the feeling that I was trying to compare apples to oranges. They're presented in more or less chronological order, and the guiding principle was whether I had a clear memory of the recording even before I went back to listen to it again. A few of these were drawn from Multiple Review articles, and I cheated a ...
Continue ReadingMichael Formanek - Tomas Fujiwara - Mary Halvorson: Convallaria
by Glenn Astarita
Three hyper-progressive improvisational jazz and cross-genre artists push the envelope again on their 2nd album for Cuneiform Records. The musicians' busy schedules via numerous and largely prolific solo and group-based projects have rocketed their respective artistries into the limelight, especially ECM recording artist Michael Formanek (bass) who for the past several decades has become a household name within these circles. Nonetheless, it's an adventurous exploration, led by guitarist Mary Halvorson's signature phraseology, comprised of extended lines that vaporize into the ...
Continue ReadingMichael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus: The Distance
by Alberto Bazzurro
Riporta alla mente esperienze tipo quelle, gloriose, consumate a cavallo fra anni Sessanta e Settanta dal cenacolo raccolto attorno alla premiata ditta Carla Bley/Michael Mantler, questo notevole nuovo lavoro di Michael Formanek (incisione del dicembre 2014). Ora come allora, un manipolo di solisti (ma anche compositori, leader, ecc.) tra i migliori in circolazione si riunsicono attorno a un'idea orchestrale e le danno (magistralmente) corpo e voce. È magari curioso, se vogliamo, che a intitolare il disco sia il brano che ...
Continue ReadingBarry Adamson, Michael Formanek, Elliott Sharp & Rokia Traoré
by Martin Longley
Barry Adamson Rough Trade March 21, 2016 Hot on the heels of SXSW in Austin, Barry Adamson turned up for a lower-key solo show at NYC's Rough Trade store. His reputation was made as a bassist with Magazine and Nick Cave, but in the three decades since then he's had ample time to build up a persona as composer of movie soundtracks to imaginary flicks. Not that this is his only mission, but ...
Continue ReadingMichael Formanek’s Ensemble Kolossus: The Distance
by Dan McClenaghan
Here's a surprise. Bassist Michael Formanek is probably best known for his two recent ECM Records dates, Rub and Spare Change (2010) and Small Places, a couple of modernistic quartet sessions featuring saxophonist Tim Berne, pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver. These are tight and intense sets, architecturally solid, free-like outings that may have helped bring Taborn and Berne into the ECM fold for their own leader slots on the label. With a modest--in terms of numbers--discography as a ...
Continue ReadingMichael Formanek’s Ensemble Kolossus: The Distance
by Mark Sullivan
Jazz composers writing for large ensembles have often avoided the label “big band," going back to the Jazz Composer's Orchestra in the '60s, not to mention Sun Ra's Arkestra and the many Swing Era bands that called themselves orchestras. It's an understandable choice, given the unavoidable--and potentially limiting--stylistic associations that come with the big band name. Bassist/composer Michael Formanek playfully calls this 18-piece group Ensemble Kolossus: it represents a bold creative leap forward from his previous quartet recordings Small Places ...
Continue ReadingWinter Jazzfest 2016: ECM Records Stage
by Bob Kenselaar
Winter Jazzfest--ECM Records Stage The New School Tishman Auditorium New York, NY January 15 & 16, 2016 There's a very modern feel at the Tishman Auditorium at The New School University Center, the site for a two-night showcase for ECM Records at the 2016 Winter Jazzfest--with the Escher-esque stairs that you pass on the way in, the broad, open space of the stage, its huge screen backdrop, and the light blonde bamboo walls. You ...
Continue Reading
