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Independent music since 1986.
Independent music since 1986.

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359: MICHAEL FORMANEK. Imperfect Measures

Intakt Recording #359/ 2021

Michael Formanek: Bass

Recorded on September 10, 2017 at Heartwood Sound Studio, Baltimore, MD by Ben Frock.

Original price CHF 12.00 - Original price CHF 30.00
Original price
CHF 30.00
CHF 12.00 - CHF 30.00
Current price CHF 30.00
Format: Compact Disc
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With his extensive artistic biography, Michael Formanek is one of the most outstanding figures in American jazz – As a compo- ser, as a bassist in ensembles, and as a soloist. Although the bass often plays in the background, bassists write jazz history. So does Michael Formanek, who makes an impressive solo statement with Imperfect Measures (24 years after his first solo album).
About the creative process, Formanek writes: "I came to realize that for me, playing solo bass is much closer to a compositional process than a performance practice ... Any structure inherent in a piece evolves in the moment, the product of the improvisa- tion itself – as if one were building and traveling along a road simultaneously. The road only extends as far as we are in the moment, so there must be a total commitment to what is being created and constructed in real time, lest things quickly fall apart.“
The inspiring music is embedded in works by artist and illustrator Warren Linn, who created sketches during the recording process, developed them into collages/paintings, some of which are now featured in the CD package designed by Stephen Byram. An absolute work of art!

Album Credits

Liner Notes: Michael Formanek
Photo: Palma Fiaco
Paintings: Warren Linn
Design: Stephen Byran
Booklet Design: Fiona Ryan


All compositions by Michael Formanek (Formtone Music BMI).
Recorded on September 10, 2017 at Heartwood Sound Studio, Baltimore, MD by Ben Frock. Mixed in August 2020 by Jake K. Leckie, Los Ange- les, CA. Mastered in November 2020 by Nick Lloyd at Firehouse 12 New Haven, CT. Produced and published by Michael Formanek and Intakt records, Patrik Landolt, Florian Keller, Anja Illmaier. Published by Intakt records.

Customer Reviews

Based on 21 reviews
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A
Anonymous
Downbeat Magazine

BEST ALBUMS OF 2021
MASTERPIECES

B
Bill Meyer
Downbeat Magazine

Michael Formanek Imperfect Measures INTAKT RECORDS **** After the world went to lockdown last year, a lot of musicians spent time playing alone. But this CD is not a product of COVID. It addresses a moment of personal challenge. In 2017, bassist Michael Formanek went back to full-time performing after 17 years of conservatory teaching. And two decades after recording his first solo album, he made a second, Imperfect Measures. He's spent the intervening years earning acclaim as a composer, collaborator and band-leader, and elements of those pursuits insinuate themselves into this record. While Formanek is the only musician heard on Imperfect Measures, he created a collaborative environment by inviting artist Warren Linn to come into the studio and draw while Formanek played Several pieces adorn the album's packaging.

And Formanek exercised a compositional influence upon the unscripted music by selecting excerpts from much longer improvisations. The result is a collection of nine tracks, ranging from three to 11 minutes, that are the product of abstraction, but don't sound especially abstract. The recording quality is clear and unenhanced, preserving Formanek's rich, round tone. The opener, "Quickdraw," progresses at an undeniably dazzling clip, but also with inescapable logic. Both "Loop Back" and "Notice Moments" punctuate intricate passages with flamenco-like flourishes, which results in music that imparts a sense of narrative structure even though it rarely repeats. Imperfect Measures isn't just a selection of great bass solos; it's a distillation of a keenly organized musical mind.

Reviews in Other Languages

J
Jean Buzelin
Cultur Jazz Magazine

À côté des soprani aériens et virevoltants, la rude et grave contrebasse peut apparaître comme un instrument plus ingrat. Pourtant les solos sur cet instrument sont assez fréquents et souvent orientés vers la libre improvisation. Pour Michael Formanek, ils représentent d’abord un processus de composition plutôt qu’une performance. Ce qui apparaît évident à l’écoute de ces neuf créations personnelles qui, plus que des études, apparaissent comme une sorte d’aboutissement, vingt-quatre ans après un premier disque solo, dans l’art de l’équilibre entre composition et improvisation. Sonorité superbe, profondeur, fermeté de l’attaque, résonance de la corde sur le bois, raclements parfois... Michael Formanek fait chanter son instrument, affectionnant, même s’il grimpe un peu parfois dans les aigus, les registres graves, facteurs de beauté. « Imperfect Measures » (CD 359). OUI !
https://www.culturejazz.fr/spip.php?article3689

N
Nazim Comunale
The New Noise

MICHAEL FORMANEK, Imperfect Measures
Dopo i fuochi d’artificio del Very Practical Trio con Tim Berne e Mary Halvorson, torna su Intakt il contrabbassista Michael Formanek con un solo: nove tracce nude e luminose nella loro essenzialità. Chi scrive ha una predilezione speciale per i soli di contrabbasso ed anche questo lavoro la conferma: monologhi filosofici da qualche parte a metà strada tra un cielo in cui non abbiamo cittadinanza ed abissi che ci tentano ma continuiamo a temere; brividi quando ci ritroviamo in un labirinto (l’archetto che fruga tra le nostre vane intenzioni in “A Maze”), esercizi di speleologia, prove di decollo (“Airborne”), prototipi di umanità indicibile se non tramite le mani sulle quattro corde (il mood pensoso di “On The Skin”). Un musicista cruciale e ispiratissimo, un disco da ascoltare al massimo del volume al tramonto, con le finestre spalancate, convocando gli dei della notte.
https://www.thenewnoise.it/ombre-infrante-nelle-imperfette-misure-della-luce-quattro-dischi-intakt/

F
Franck Bergerot
Jazz Magazine, France

"Imperfect Measures" (Intakt / Orkhestra) [CHOC] est une moindre surprise dans l'œuvre polymorphe de Michael CHOC jazz Formanek, même si son unique précédent solo date de 1997. NE K On le sait leader et compositeur depuis trente ans, familier de figures émancipées (Wayne Krantz, Tony Malaby, Tim Berne, Jim Black...). Ces "mesures imparfaites" furent improvisées en 2017 en présence de son ami dessinateur Warren Linn venu le croquer en action. Il en reste cette sélection de fragments (de trois à onze minutes) et un cover art de six esquisses retouchées à la peinture et au collage. Musique vagabonde, partant d'un motif ou allant à sa rencontre, lignes droites, bifurcations ou écarts buissonniers, abstraction pure ou lyrisme déroulé à l'infini sans refrain, jeux de notes ou jeux de timbres (parfois avec archet)... état des lieux d'un chantier en cours, "imperfect" au regard de l'admirable poli d'"Autoportrait" digne d'un ébéniste. Mais il nous semble que réunis autour d'une bonne bouteille, Nicolas et Formanek auraient des choses à se dire à propos de leur instrument, de Jean-Sebastien Bach, Béla Bartók... ou Ron Carter.

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