QUOTES About his playing…
“…a true virtuoso bassist”-Pulse |
“the formidable American bass-player Michael Formanek’s solo set ranks with the great
solo bass performances.”
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“…deep propulsion, big beefy tone, a strong sense of line, individuality expressed
through avoiding the expected.” |
“Mr. Formanek, on bass, has solid intonation, riffing hard and engaging horns and drums
in genuinely melodic counterpoint.” |
“Formanek is a musician first: his wonderful technique is always subjugated to the higher goal of making interesting art…Formanek is riveting.”-Cadence |
“… a sound player who articulates with precision, produces a big, solid tone, and boasts rock-steady time.”-Bass Player |
" On his 1997 solo recital Am I Bothering You? he compresses his conception, finding insinuating melodies and hypnotic timbres, developing them thematically, always with amiable gusto and impeccable technique."-Downbeat |
“Formanek’s virtuosic command of his bass, which allowed him to simultaneously pluck walking lines and bow resonant accents, sometimes made him sound like two players at once .”-The Chicago Tribune |
“...Formanek combines rhythmic muscle and lyrical fluidity - and endless creativity.“-Chicago Sun Times |
“Formanek's sound never failed to glow, and his rhythmic sense ensured a conversational flow.”-The Boston Globe |
“Bassist Michael Formanek is a minor marvel, the tenacious harmonic adhesive that sometimes keeps the music from completely shirking its moorings. His porous pizzicato shifts from prickly thickets to elongated ambling strides and there are points where he almost seems to playing his bass with a bottle neck slide, the decaying echo of timbral reverberations hanging in the air. “-Bagatellen (www.bagatellen.com) |
“He can create an explicit walking pace just as adeptly as a free-floating pulse. That
inside/outside ambidextrousness coupled with a stout, string-snapping tone gives the trio
just the sort of variable-purpose anchor it needs.” |