Michael Formanek – New Digs

From solo to quartet, Michael Formanek has already recorded several times for the Swiss label Intakt.

This time, the bassist and composer proposes a septet. A septet that he had the opportunity to present at a festival in Portugal a few years ago and whose music had therefore matured before entering the studio.

The basis of this ensemble and part of its originality is linked to the presence of a Hammond organ, an instrument that Formanek had never included in his music before but with which he had already performed in his youth.

Here, however, the organ is not used in a groove context as was traditional in the 1960s. On the contrary, it brings an original color, and it is not surprising that Formanek called on British keyboardist Alexander Hawkins, a musician who always has surprises in store, given his diverse influences, and who, in addition to other acoustic and electric keyboards, has been playing the organ since his youth. Around this core of double bass and Hammond organ, Formanek has brought together musicians with whom he is familiar: guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, as well as others who are less well known: the three wind players John O’Gallagher, Chet Doxas, and João Almeida.

At the head of this septet with its original sound, Formanek offers music of great richness, often complex without ever being dry, in which the soloists contribute greatly, through their timbre and their interventions, to the success of a project that confirms the leader’s talents, both as a composer and soloist and as a bringer together of companions with strong identities.