MICHAEL FORMANEK
Genres: 21st Century Modern, Avant-Garde Jazz, Third Stream • United States

Michael Formanek (born May 7, 1958) is an American jazz bassist born in San Francisco, California and associated with the jazz scene in New York City. In the 1980s, Formanek worked as a sideman with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Dave Liebman, Fred Hersch, and Attila Zoller. His debut release as a leader was 1990's Wide Open Spaces, featuring saxophonist Greg Osby, violinist Mark Feldman, guitarist Wayne Krantz, and drummer Jeff Hirshfield. In 1992 he released Extended Animation with the same ensemble, except with Tim Berne replacing Osby on sax. In 1993 Formanek, Berne, and Hirshfield recorded as a trio on the album Loose cannon. Following this, Formanek led the septet of himself, Berne, trumpeter Dave Douglas, reed player Marty Ehrlich, trombonist Kuumba Frank Lacy, drummer Marvin Smith, and pianist Salvatore Bonafede. That same year, Formanek began playing with Berne's ensemble Bloodcount through the end of the decade, on the releases read more...