Michael Formanek: New Digs

Michael Formanek has never been content to anchor a bandstand and call it a career. Over decades of work—from sideman stints with Stan Getz and Joe Henderson to the long-running Thumbscrew trio with Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara—he has operated as a composer and architect, building rooms rather than merely inhabiting them. New Digs recorded over two days in Torres Vedras, Portugal, stands as an ambitious project via this seven-piece trans-Atlantic ensemble shaped by a precise sonic design.

The personnel choices signal intent before a note sounds. Halvorson and Fujiwara return from Thumbscrew, supplying deep rapport and elasticity. A three-horn frontline—John O'Gallagher on alto saxophone, Chet Doxas on tenor, and João Almeida on trumpet —brings sharp contrast and collective force. Most decisive is Alexander Hawkins, a pianist within the Anthony Braxton orbit, here stationed at the Hammond B3 organ. Its presence reshapes the ensemble, functioning as a rhythm engine, harmonic bed, and unruly catalyst. Formanek does not simply add color; he alters the ensemble's internal logic, allowing the group to pivot between density and openness with remarkable control.

The opener, "New Old World," drops the listener into shifting terrain. Horn lines braid and fracture while Halvorson tilts the harmony off-axis. Hawkins treats the B3 as both anchor and disruptor, threading dense comping through linear passages and fractured solos. Formanek guides from within, redirecting momentum with quiet authority. "Prequal" leans harder into abstraction, propelled by Hawkins' gritty pulse and surging horn figures that crest and scatter with intent, the ensemble sounding both combustible and tightly organized.

"Aka the Stinger" offers a grounded counterweight. Formanek's early immersion in Bay Area soul-jazz surfaces in a groove that struts without settling into cliché. The band rides it with restraint, allowing small deviations to keep the tension alive while maintaining a sense of forward motion.

The album's most affecting moment arrives with "Gone Home / Interlude for Susan Alcorn," written in memory of the late pedal steel guitarist. Formanek's arco bass sets a solemn tone, answered by Almeida's poised trumpet line. The ensemble resists excess, favoring space, angled phrasing, and understated interplay that carries emotional weight without sentimentality. Subtle off-centered accents and carefully measured dynamics deepen the piece's quiet gravity.

"Quinze" gathers the threads into a forceful statement. The septet locks into a unified surge, Doxas delivering a searing tenor passage while Hawkins expands the B3's palette beyond expectation. Almeida's closing statement balances lyricism with a touch of steel, sealing the album's emotional arc.

Formanek has long trusted instinct, yet New Digs reflects something more measured: a fully realized vision of ensemble interplay. Each voice contributes with purpose, and the music rewards attentive listening, revealing new structural details and shifting perspectives with each return.