Small Places is double-bassist/composer Michael Formanek s follow-up to The Rub and Spare Change, his widely lauded ECM debut as a leader. That 2010 release garnered a rare five-star review in DownBeat magazine, while The New York Times described the disc as being graceful in its subversions, often even sumptuous. The review in Progression perhaps put it best: This type of listening experience, dense yet luminiferous, treads the tightrope between cerebral and streetwise in a damn cool way. The new album features the same powerhouse band of longtime confreres, with Formanek in seemingly telepathic league with saxophonist Tim Berne, pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver. If anything, Small Places is a step beyond this quartet s first release, with the compositions and improvisation blending so that a listener is scarcely able to tell where one leaves off and the other begins. Earthy yet atmospheric, this is jazz alive with dark-hued melody and bone-deep rhythms, rich in dynamic possibility and the sound of surprise. Unlike The Rub and Spare Change, which was recorded after only a few initial live performances by Formanek and company, Small Places represents a group honed by touring both Europe and the U.S. together. Moreover, the quartet performed the full repertoire of Small Places in a New York club just before heading into Avatar Studios in autumn 2011 with producer Manfred Eicher. Small Places is the sound of a orking band in peak form, challenged by the material and challenging each other in its expression.
For this record, it wasn t just a great idea it was a real band, Formanek says. We had some history playing together as a quartet, so I didn t just write the new music based on my impression of what these guys could do I wrote it based on my experience of what they can do. After being on the road with Tim, Craig and Gerald, I realized that I could write virtually anything, such was their commitment to making the music as rich as it can be. I knew that each of them would find the space in the music to express himself and elaborate on what I had written. None of these guys do the obvious things. They are extremely patient improvisers, with nobody just blasting through the material. As musicians, they are sensitive to possibilities. JazzTimes, writing about The Rub and Spare Change, described the quartet as vibrant and instinctive, performing music that combines rigor and reckless abandon. With Small Places, Formanek pushed both ends of the envelope, with writing both more structured than on the previous album (as with the rhythmically driving Rising Tensions and Awesome Light ) and more open (the shadowy, lyrical Wobble and Spill ). The group reacted to each direction with playing of imaginative energy and utmost sensitivity. Berne whose own ECM debut as a leader, Snakeoil, was released earlier this year to acclaim contributes some of his most purely beautiful playing on record ever. Formanek says: I ve been working with Tim since the early 90s, and as much as I ve heard him do, he keeps growing and expanding as a musician. He always surprises and impresses me with what he can and will do.
Tracklist:
01 Small Places 05:1902 Pong 06:36
03 Parting Ways 18:06
04 Rising Tensions and Awesome Light 09:01
05 Slightly Off Axis 05:05
06 Seeds and Birdman 12:37
07 Wobble and Spill 06:25
08 Soft Reality 08:13
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