Biography
Michael Formanek came into the world in San Francisco during 1958 and has demonstrated command of every role in creative jazz, functioning as bassist, composer, improviser, bandleader, collaborator, educator, and preferred session player for many of the genre’s most respected figures. Since his first album as leader, Wide Open Spaces, appeared on Enja in 1990, he has remained a central figure on the New York and East Coast creative jazz circuit. Prior to that debut he had already established his reliability as a sideman in groups directed by Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Dave Liebman, Fred Hersch, and Attila Zoller, yet Wide Open Spaces first displayed his gift for crafting diverse pieces that highlighted the distinct strengths of his chosen players, in this instance saxophonist Greg Osby, violinist Mark Feldman, guitarist Wayne Krantz, and drummer Jeff Hirshfield.
Enja issued Formanek’s follow-up, Extended Animation, in 1992; the personnel remained identical to the debut except for the replacement of Osby by Tim Berne on saxophone. From the opening unison bass-sax phrase of the initial track “Liar’s Web,” the rapport between Formanek and Berne stood out clearly, and the two would sustain a productive partnership through the rest of the decade and afterward. Extended Animation also showcased Formanek’s growing facility with longer, more intricate structures than the concise pieces that dominated Wide Open Spaces. That same year Formanek, Berne, and Hirshfield convened for Loose Cannon, a trio date for Giovanni Bonandrini’s Soul Note imprint that placed bass and saxophone at the forefront and further solidified the emerging Formanek-Berne alliance; the album reached the public in 1993. Formanek then returned to Enja for a session with his largest ensemble to date: the septet on Low Profile united Formanek and Berne with trumpeter Dave Douglas, multi-reedist Marty Ehrlich, trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy, drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith, and pianist Salvatore Bonafede. Balancing vigorous improvisational stretches with detailed ensemble writing, Low Profile earned widespread critical regard as one of the strongest creative jazz releases of 1994.
Around the same time Berne recruited Formanek into Bloodcount, his quartet completed by saxophonist/clarinetist Chris Speed and drummer Jim Black. In September 1994 the four musicians plus guitarist Marc Ducret documented several nights of performances for Stefan Winter’s JMT label; the material surfaced in 1995 across three landmark Bloodcount albums—Lowlife, Poisoned Minds, and Memory Select. Although JMT soon folded, Bloodcount persisted without Ducret on Berne’s newly formed Screwgun imprint, and Formanek appeared on three subsequent Screwgun titles: the 1996 three-CD box set Bloodcount Unwound plus Discretion and Saturation Point, both issued in 1997. Still obligated to Enja, Formanek cut Nature of the Beast, his fourth album for the label, in 1996; released the following year, the recording centered on a quartet with trumpeter Douglas, trombonist Steve Swell, and drummer Jim Black, whose rapport with Formanek had grown especially strong through Bloodcount. Berne, Speed, and tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby also contributed on selected tracks, all of them joining the extended twelve-minute piece “Thick Skin/Dangerous Crustaceans,” which evoked an enlarged version of Bloodcount.
As the decade closed, Berne suspended Bloodcount, yet Formanek maintained his connection with the saxophonist; the pair toured the United States as a duo and issued the 1998 CD Ornery People on Little Brother. That same year Screwgun released Am I Bothering You?, a solo bass recording that fully exhibited Formanek’s command of improvisation and extended techniques. He also joined drummer Gerry Hemingway’s new American quartet, which included trombonist Ray Anderson and tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin. On the 1999 Enja album Relativity, Formanek performed in a fresh trio with reedman Ehrlich and drummer Peter Erskine, earning praise for sustaining a driving pulse while simultaneously opening space for abstract interplay. At the June 2000 Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival in New York City he introduced Northern Exposure, a quartet featuring drummer Black, trumpeter Dave Ballou, and saxophonist Henrik Frisk. Amid this activity Formanek remained a sought-after session bassist throughout the 1990s, appearing on recordings by Jane Ira Bloom, Uri Caine, Marty Ehrlich, James Emery, Lee Konitz, Kevin Mahogany, the Mingus Big Band, the New York Jazz Collective, Daniel Schnyder, and Jack Walrath. By 2000 he had participated in more than sixty sessions as leader, collaborator, or sideman.
At the start of the new century Formanek relocated with his family from eastern Pennsylvania to the Baltimore area after accepting a temporary teaching post in the Jazz Studies Department at Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory, one of the oldest conservatories in the United States and an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University since 1977. He later received a full-time appointment and, while continuing to record as a sideman, concentrated much of his creative focus on academic work for the remainder of the decade, also obtaining fellowships and commissions for new compositions. He returned to recording as a leader in 2010 with The Rub and Spare Change by the Michael Formanek Quartet on ECM, which featured, alongside Formanek on bass and as composer, saxophonist Berne, pianist Craig Taborn, and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Small Places, the quartet’s second ECM album, followed in 2012 with the same personnel.
During the 2010s Formanek also performed with his eighteen-piece Ensemble Kolossus, an aggregation of longtime associates that incorporated a newer cohort of Brooklyn-based players. In early 2014 Cuneiform issued the self-titled debut by Thumbscrew, the collaborative trio of Formanek, guitarist Mary Halvorson, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara; later that October Formanek appeared on another Cuneiform release, guitarist Anthony Pirog’s Palo Colorado Dream, which also included drummer Ches Smith. Two years afterward he delivered The Distance, his third ECM album, with Ensemble Kolossus, whose personnel incidentally encompassed Thumbscrew members Halvorson and Fujiwara. In May of that year Cuneiform brought out Thumbscrew’s second album, Convallaria. At the close of 2017 Cuneiform announced a hiatus, yet six months later the label resurfaced with two further Thumbscrew releases: Ours, containing original material by the three members, and Theirs, presenting interpretations of works by Herbie Nichols, Benny Golson, Wayne Shorter, Jimmy Rowles, and Misha Mengelberg.
Alongside a June 2018 Thumbscrew tour supporting Ours and Theirs, Formanek stepped down from his Peabody Conservatory position, intending to direct greater attention toward performance and recording. One of his initial post-Peabody projects was 2019’s Even Better, an inventive studio session by his Very Practical Trio with saxophonist Tim Berne and guitarist Halvorson.
Enja issued Formanek’s follow-up, Extended Animation, in 1992; the personnel remained identical to the debut except for the replacement of Osby by Tim Berne on saxophone. From the opening unison bass-sax phrase of the initial track “Liar’s Web,” the rapport between Formanek and Berne stood out clearly, and the two would sustain a productive partnership through the rest of the decade and afterward. Extended Animation also showcased Formanek’s growing facility with longer, more intricate structures than the concise pieces that dominated Wide Open Spaces. That same year Formanek, Berne, and Hirshfield convened for Loose Cannon, a trio date for Giovanni Bonandrini’s Soul Note imprint that placed bass and saxophone at the forefront and further solidified the emerging Formanek-Berne alliance; the album reached the public in 1993. Formanek then returned to Enja for a session with his largest ensemble to date: the septet on Low Profile united Formanek and Berne with trumpeter Dave Douglas, multi-reedist Marty Ehrlich, trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy, drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith, and pianist Salvatore Bonafede. Balancing vigorous improvisational stretches with detailed ensemble writing, Low Profile earned widespread critical regard as one of the strongest creative jazz releases of 1994.
Around the same time Berne recruited Formanek into Bloodcount, his quartet completed by saxophonist/clarinetist Chris Speed and drummer Jim Black. In September 1994 the four musicians plus guitarist Marc Ducret documented several nights of performances for Stefan Winter’s JMT label; the material surfaced in 1995 across three landmark Bloodcount albums—Lowlife, Poisoned Minds, and Memory Select. Although JMT soon folded, Bloodcount persisted without Ducret on Berne’s newly formed Screwgun imprint, and Formanek appeared on three subsequent Screwgun titles: the 1996 three-CD box set Bloodcount Unwound plus Discretion and Saturation Point, both issued in 1997. Still obligated to Enja, Formanek cut Nature of the Beast, his fourth album for the label, in 1996; released the following year, the recording centered on a quartet with trumpeter Douglas, trombonist Steve Swell, and drummer Jim Black, whose rapport with Formanek had grown especially strong through Bloodcount. Berne, Speed, and tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby also contributed on selected tracks, all of them joining the extended twelve-minute piece “Thick Skin/Dangerous Crustaceans,” which evoked an enlarged version of Bloodcount.
As the decade closed, Berne suspended Bloodcount, yet Formanek maintained his connection with the saxophonist; the pair toured the United States as a duo and issued the 1998 CD Ornery People on Little Brother. That same year Screwgun released Am I Bothering You?, a solo bass recording that fully exhibited Formanek’s command of improvisation and extended techniques. He also joined drummer Gerry Hemingway’s new American quartet, which included trombonist Ray Anderson and tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin. On the 1999 Enja album Relativity, Formanek performed in a fresh trio with reedman Ehrlich and drummer Peter Erskine, earning praise for sustaining a driving pulse while simultaneously opening space for abstract interplay. At the June 2000 Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival in New York City he introduced Northern Exposure, a quartet featuring drummer Black, trumpeter Dave Ballou, and saxophonist Henrik Frisk. Amid this activity Formanek remained a sought-after session bassist throughout the 1990s, appearing on recordings by Jane Ira Bloom, Uri Caine, Marty Ehrlich, James Emery, Lee Konitz, Kevin Mahogany, the Mingus Big Band, the New York Jazz Collective, Daniel Schnyder, and Jack Walrath. By 2000 he had participated in more than sixty sessions as leader, collaborator, or sideman.
At the start of the new century Formanek relocated with his family from eastern Pennsylvania to the Baltimore area after accepting a temporary teaching post in the Jazz Studies Department at Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory, one of the oldest conservatories in the United States and an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University since 1977. He later received a full-time appointment and, while continuing to record as a sideman, concentrated much of his creative focus on academic work for the remainder of the decade, also obtaining fellowships and commissions for new compositions. He returned to recording as a leader in 2010 with The Rub and Spare Change by the Michael Formanek Quartet on ECM, which featured, alongside Formanek on bass and as composer, saxophonist Berne, pianist Craig Taborn, and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Small Places, the quartet’s second ECM album, followed in 2012 with the same personnel.
During the 2010s Formanek also performed with his eighteen-piece Ensemble Kolossus, an aggregation of longtime associates that incorporated a newer cohort of Brooklyn-based players. In early 2014 Cuneiform issued the self-titled debut by Thumbscrew, the collaborative trio of Formanek, guitarist Mary Halvorson, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara; later that October Formanek appeared on another Cuneiform release, guitarist Anthony Pirog’s Palo Colorado Dream, which also included drummer Ches Smith. Two years afterward he delivered The Distance, his third ECM album, with Ensemble Kolossus, whose personnel incidentally encompassed Thumbscrew members Halvorson and Fujiwara. In May of that year Cuneiform brought out Thumbscrew’s second album, Convallaria. At the close of 2017 Cuneiform announced a hiatus, yet six months later the label resurfaced with two further Thumbscrew releases: Ours, containing original material by the three members, and Theirs, presenting interpretations of works by Herbie Nichols, Benny Golson, Wayne Shorter, Jimmy Rowles, and Misha Mengelberg.
Alongside a June 2018 Thumbscrew tour supporting Ours and Theirs, Formanek stepped down from his Peabody Conservatory position, intending to direct greater attention toward performance and recording. One of his initial post-Peabody projects was 2019’s Even Better, an inventive studio session by his Very Practical Trio with saxophonist Tim Berne and guitarist Halvorson.
Albums
New Digs
2026
Parlour Games
2024
Un Ruido de Agua
2023
Imperfect Measures
2021
Bloom
2019
The Distance
2016
Small Places
2012
The Rub And Spare Change
2010
The Rub and Spare Change
2010
Pariah's Pariah
2009
Loose Cannon
1993
Singles
