Balancing on the Edge: Michael Formanek Speaks
Tomas Fujiwara, Michael Formanek, Mary Halvorson. Photo by Deneka Peniston.
by Sarah Thomas
This weekend, the acclaimed collective Thumbscrew celebrates their 10th anniversary and the release of their seventh album, Multicolored Midnight with two nights at The Jazz Gallery. We at Jazz Speaks caught up with bassist Michael Formanek to talk about the album, how the group is approaching this 10-year milestone, and other projects.
The Jazz Gallery: This is a big year for Thumbscrew. It's your tenth anniversary and you just released your seventh album, Multicolored Midnight. Did you have goals or specific things you wanted to bring to the album specifically with your tenth anniversary in mind?
Michael Formanek: I would say kind of a combination. On one hand, it's just another record for us. We take them all very seriously. We put a lot of time into each one. They're usually a product of a residency that we do in Pittsburgh and there’s a lot to each of them. The last ones we've done, we did two recordings at a time and we recorded them in Pittsburgh. This one was a little different. Maybe partially because of the ten year anniversary and partially just because of where we are right now and how we're feeling about what we do and all of that, we opted to just focus on one recording, just to focus on original music on this one, and rather than record it in Pittsburgh, to record it in New York when we got back.
So we had in mind that it was sort of a special event for us. I mean, not that the number ten or a decade means so much, but for a co-op band to be able to survive like this, it's a little unusual. But I think we all felt strongly about it being the strongest thing we could put forward now, given the time and everything else that we've done.
TJG: It sounds like your process was a little different. So you usually record two albums at once?
MF: We have done that, over the same set of days. We've done it that way. I mean, partially because of our residencies. It sort of afforded as a little different kind of a timeframe. In New York, to get one or two days in the studio is a lot to pull together, as you know, and it's a lot of expense. It's a lot. There are a lot of things about it that make it—you know, everything has to be super focused, and you spend every minute you've got, and you try to use it as wisely as you can.
The pace of things in Pittsburgh was a little different, and we normally had basically four days to record. But one of the days would end up just being mostly getting sounds and just kind of getting things set up. But we did have enough time, usually, because we'd been rehearsing at that point for weeks. So we were able to pull two sets of music together and not feel that that was too much on those sessions. This one, again, we did differently. We focused on this one project, and then we came back and recorded it in New York in two days. But it was just a different kind of timeframe and a different kind of focus. So that's just the way it had been in the past and how we did it this time.
TJG: Did you all write the music on the album specifically for this project?
MF: Well, mostly what we do with Thumbscrew is we write Thumbscrew music for a Thumbscrew project. It sort of stays connected to that project and that world, and that's what we play live and all that. So that's kind of the way we do it. That said, we work on our own stuff separately then we bring the music into rehearsal. So some of it might have taken another form at some point. I know in my case, because during that time I was home a lot and working on different things, I'd end up coming up with slightly different versions of pieces and things like that. Then when it came time to put together the Thumbscrew music, some of that stuff was also in my mind. But basically as it is, we all write for Thumbscrew, and then the music becomes just part of that repertoire.
TJG: This album features a lot more of Tomas’s vibraphone playing than some of your past projects. What led you all to want to go in that direction for this project?
MF: It came from him mostly, originally. When we did the Braxton recording in 2019, there was some vibraphone, and he was working on vibraphone and trying to really up his game with that instrument. There were just a few things that he had done with the vibes. We didn't incorporate any of that into the live playing. It was just mainly for the recording. So when we started to talk about the 2021 recording, which is Multicolored Midnight, the question came up—Tomas, do you want to make the vibes more part of this one? So we discussed it, and we decided that he was really into doing it and that it gave us a nice, different thing to focus on both in terms of the compositions and also playing-wise. So we decided we would each write a piece for the vibes and include that, but also with the idea of trying to incorporate it into not all of the live performances, but the ones where it was possible without making things too complicated. We just got back from Europe, and we were able to do a number of the concerts with vibes which was great. It was a great contrast to the other music.
TJG: At your shows at the Gallery, are you playing music from the album or other stuff or both?
MF: I know we're playing music from the album. Whether it's music exclusively from the album remains to be seen. As far as I know, we'll do what we've been doing recently, which is playing most, if not all, of the music from the new record and then interspersing that a bit with other things. We usually have a small number of pieces connected to the Theirs record, which was our album of other people's music. So we have a few pieces there that we always like to play when we can. So there'll be some of that. There's usually a Braxton or two. And then sometimes we'll mix in something from Never Is Enough, which was our last record. That one, because of the times and all that, we didn't really get to play so much live. So we do still bring a few of those pieces in. We did livestreams and we did a tour last summer with that music, but it wasn't as much as we've done in other projects. So it's nice to revisit it, or at least to get to explore a few of those also. So that’s most likely what it will be.
TJG: Sounds like a good mix of stuff.
MF: Yeah, we try to keep it balanced and interesting as much as we can.
TJG: You all work together in other contexts besides the trio. I feel like a lot of groups can be somewhat insular and end up only working with each other, but that's not really what you all do. How do you feel that has affected your collaboration together as a trio?
MF: The thing is this. We came to do Thumbscrew because we like playing together. That was the first thing. We were on a gig, and we played, and it was like, wow, this is cool. Let's try this some more. So it was one of those things and it came from that place. Then there were discussions about whether it should be a band and whether we should write music for it—all of those things. But the fundamental thing there was that we like playing together. We like banging out together. We like playing together.
We've all had groups at various points that all of us have been the rhythm section or part of the rhythm section. Mary's Code Girl band that we all play in. Tomas had a group for a while, The Hook Up, that we all played in. They were three-fifths of the rhythm section in my ensemble, Kolossus. And then we've done things with other people—this clarinetist Ben Goldberg had us all on a record together.
So in a way, there is an element of—I mean, it's a different version of it, but the way rhythm sections used to stick together and play with different groups. Because we have a certain rapport and a certain way of doing things. So in a way, within each of those things there are different degrees of how when we play together, it's all Thumbscrew. It always somehow sounds like Thumbscrew. But when we're playing other people's music, we're trying to be respectful of that. Or if it's my group, they're trying to pay attention to what I'm looking for and vice versa. All those kinds of things.
So it's kind of multidimensional in that way. We don't try to just fall back and do what's easy for us in any of these other situations. In fact, in most situations I think we're all kind of trying to push ourselves and push each other to do things differently or to try different things. So I think all the things we've done together have gone into making it richer in all those extremes—whether it’s Thumbscrew or whether it's the other bands we play in. It kind of all seems to add to what it is that we do, our rapport, and our ability to work together. So in a way, it's all one thing. But there's still a compartmental nature of it. I think it's all been beneficial, though.
TJG: Collaboration is always an evolving process. What has that looked like for you over the years—the way you're working together, the type of music that you're creating?
MF: I think part of it is that it evolves in the way, like you say, everything else evolves. I mean, we know each other a lot better musically and a lot better personally. We know where we like to go with things and we maybe know where we don't want to go with things all the time individually. We don't compose together. What we do is we compose, and then we bring music to the rehearsals. Then we start playing it and we start opening some discussion up if it seems like it needs some discussion in terms of what things could happen. But for the most part, when we play one of Tomas’s tunes, it's Tomas’s band. When we play one of Mary's, it’s Mary’s band. It's kind of like that. The same way that we're all invested in everything we do, everyone is invested in making it the best version. But the composer is the last word on what's going to happen.
So those things have just developed and deepened over time. I think early on we were second guessing things a little more, which is normal. So now I think we know much more—from having played so much together and done so much music—we know more what will work. Then the question sometimes is, and I'll speak for myself, what things might work but have some challenges to them, that might push up against any kind of comfort zones and things like that a little bit, which is more in my nature to do.
And then sometimes it’s the opposite. Sometimes it's like, wow, it's nice just to have a band you can write things for that just work. So it's a balance. I can't speak for them so much in this, but we've talked about it a lot and I think everybody feels pretty similar. I think everyone seems still committed to trying to not only keep it working and keep it going, but to also keep it evolving and keep it growing. And so that's part of how it evolves.
TJG: What else is going on for you these days?
MF: It's a mix of things. I'm mostly focusing on smaller things, just because anything too large has been very difficult at this point to do. My other main project right now is that I have a recording with a quartet that I recorded one CD with in 2018 called the Elusion Quartet. In that one, Kris Davis plays piano, Tony Malaby plays saxophone, and Ches Smith plays drums and vibes and some hand drums. We were supposed to record on October 1, and then somebody got sick and so we ended up having to postpone that. So that'll happen in December and come out in the spring. That's a great group. I really like that band. I have done a few European dates, and some US dates with it. I definitely want to do more. So that's important.
I've been doing some solo concerts. I have a couple in Europe in the spring and a couple in the States after that. So that's another thing. And then I have a trio with a great saxophonist, Chet Doxas, and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza called the Drome Trio. We did a lot—during the lockdowns, we started playing in my backyard, basically, and rehearsing when nobody was playing together. We started working up music and recorded it, and I put that out on my label in the spring. We've done quite a bit. We have a Roulette date coming up in January, I think on the 24th. So those are kind of my main things that I'm focusing on at this point, and trying to give each one the time and energy it needs.
Thumbscrew plays The Jazz Gallery on Friday, November 11 and Saturday, November 12. The group features Michael Formanek on bass, Tomas Fujiwara on drums & vibraphone, and Mary Halvorson on guitar. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. EST. $30 general admission ($10 for members), $40 cabaret seating ($20 for members), $20 Livestream Saturday only ($5 for members). Purchase tickets here.