Michael Formanek, born May 7, 1958 in San Francisco, California, is an American jazz bassist who has been associated with New York City’s jazz scene. Formanek was a sideman for Joe Henderson, Joe Henderson and Fred Liebman in the 1980s. Wide Open Spaces was Formanek’s debut album as a leader. It featured Greg Osby, Mark Feldman, Wayne Krantz, drummer Jeff Hirshfield, and violinist Mark Feldman. Extended Animation was released in 1992 by the same group, with Tim Berne on sax. Hirshfield, Berne and Formanek recorded in 1993 as a trio for the album Loose cannon. Formanek, Marty Ehrlich and Marty Douglas were joined by trombonist Kuumba Frank Lacy (trombone player), drummer Marvin Smith, and pianist Salvatore Bonafede. Formanek started playing with Berne’s band Bloodcount in the same year. They released the albums Lowlife, Poisoned Minds and Memory Select as well as Discretion and Saturation Point. In 1996, Formanek released his fourth album for Enja Records, which he recorded with Douglas, trombonist Steve Swell and drummer Jim Black. Berne and Formanek recorded Ornery People in 1998 as a duo. Formanek also released Am I Bothering you? solo album in 1998. He also toured that year with Gerry Hemingway. Formanek was part of a trio that included Ehrlich on drums and Peter Erskine as drummers in 1999. He was part of the group Northern Exposure, which included Black, Dave Ballou (trombone) and Henrik Frisk (sax). Formanek also has extensive experience as a session musician. He appears on recordings by Jane Ira Bloom and Uri Caine, James Emery and Lee Konitz, Kevin Mahogany. Also, the Mingus Big Band, New York Jazz Collective, Daniel Schnyder and Jack Walrath. You can also access user-contributed text under the Creative Commons By–SA License.
