Michael Formanek

“Small Places”

(ECM Records ECM 2267 Bar Code 370 9441)

In 2010 the San Francisco born, New York based bassist and composer Michael Formanek released his ECM label début “The Rub And Spare Change”, his first solo album for twelve years (there were a number of solo recordings for Enja in the 1990’s). Formanek is a significant figure on New York’s “Downtown Scene” and “the Rub…” featured something of a super-group drawn from that influential circle of musicians with the bassist joined by alto saxophonist Tim Berne, pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver. The quartet first came together in 2008 for a performance at The Stone, John Zorn’s New York City jazz and improvised music venue and such was the rapport generated by the group that Formanek was determined to document their music on record, the results eventually surfacing with ECM on “The Rub…”, a critically acclaimed release that did much to enhance Formanek’s reputation.

For “Small Places” Formanek has re-assembled the same winning team and the result is an even better album featuring a more tightly focussed set of Formanek originals allied to the sort of excellent playing one has come to expect from such an exceptional group of musicians. Released in September 2012 “Small Places” represents one of the best of a strong crop of (relatively) recent ECM releases.

This time round there’s a real sense that this is a working band rather than a one off aggregation. The success of “The Rub..” ensured that the quartet has toured extensively in the US and Europe and just prior to this recording they “road tested” the “Small Places” material in a live performance at a New York club. There’s a tremendous rapport between the musicians that serves the music well on both formally structured constructions and on looser episodes placing a greater emphasis on improvisation.

“Small Places” opens with the title track, a complex, fast moving, highly rhythmic piece featuring the incisive tone of Berne’s alto and an audacious, restless solo from Taborn, a musician’s musician who is rightly regarded as one of the most inventive pianists around. Formanek and Cleaver respond to all this complexity with intelligence and aplomb. As Formanek explains “as a bassist I have always focussed on the depth of detail - the things within a thing, and that’s what the album’s title refers to”.

“Pong” develops out of a series of ostinato figures with Berne’s alto again cutting through the cauldron of rhythmic ideas bubbling beneath. There’s also a fizzing exchange between Taborn and Cleaver with the drummer in particularly dazzling form plus a more reflective passage with Formanek’s bass coming to the fore above a distant Berne leitmotif. The piece plays out with some muscular ensemble playing, again based around repeated ostinatii. It all makes for complex but highly invigorating listening.

“Parting Ways” lowers the temperature a little with a solemn and spacious solo piano introduction with Taborn subsequently joined by the shimmer of Cleaver’s cymbals, the purr of Formanek’s bass and the gentle probing of Berne’s alto. At eighteen minutes in length the piece represents the focal point of the album and is a slow burner of a composition that gradually develops in intensity via a thoughtful Taborn solo followed by Berne’s alto incantations and an absorbing bass and drum dialogue featuring Formanek and Cleaver. Like much of Formanek’s compositional output the piece offers a strong theme and a sturdy underlying structure but allows plenty of scope for improvisation. This talented group of soloists are more than capable of making maximum use of the space allowed to them and hence a piece such as “Parting Ways” holds the attention of the listener throughout.

“Rising Tensions And Awesome Light” exhibits a pleasantly urban feel with Formanek’s bass and Berne’s long lines underpinning Cleaver’s deft and busy cymbal work. Formanek then delivers one of his best solos on the record before acceding first to Taborn’s exploratory pianism and then to Berne’s lucid improvising above a wonderfully fluid rhythmic base.

The abstract ballad “Slightly Off Axis” develops from an agreeably loose intro for bass, piano and brushed drums with Formanek taking the first solo followed by Berne’s elegantly restrained alto statement.   

“Seeds And Birdman” is the album’s second “epic”, clocking in at a little over twelve and a half minutes. Like “Parting Ways” it’s a gripping performance unfolding slowly through a particularly brilliant and inventive Taborn solo, the pianist’s luminous inventions superbly shadowed by Cleaver.Berne then broods in shadowy fashion on alto, occasionally injecting a sudden bite into his playing, his musings gradually growing in intensity as Formanek, Cleaver and Taborn respond in kind.

“Wobble And Spill” is a gloriously spacious abstract ballad with Berne producing some of his most straightforwardly beautiful playing to be captured on disc. Taborn also produces some of his most lyrical playing within the deliberately loose but highly receptive rhythmic framework.

“Soft Reality” closes the album on a beautiful note, the piece based around the drone sounds produced by Formanek’s arco bass and Cleaver’s shruti box. Berne’s keening alto pierces the crepescular darkness in almost Garbarek like manner, he produces some extraordinary sounds from his horn whereas Taborn, so brilliant elsewhere, seems happy to adopt a more lyrical purely supportive role. It’s a selfless act that typifies the album as a whole, the entire record is a superb group performance with every member displaying superb interactive skills as well as an impressive individual technical ability. A typically crystalline Manfred Eicher production captures every instrument superbly but nevertheless there are moments, particularly early on ( the title track and “Pong”) when the album sounds remarkably robust for an ECM record.

“Small Places” builds on the success of its predecessor to deliver a truly classic small group recording based around a combination of strong compositional themes and intuitive, highly interactive improvisation from four excellent musicians. This is music that is both challenging and accessible and which has the ability to absorb the listener throughout.   

 

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