Michael Formanek

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Born in San Francisco, Michael Formanek has made quite a name for himself as a first-call bassist in the East Coast scene he calls home. Formanek has worked with several generations of musicians throughout his distinguished career: as a teenager in the 1970s he toured with Tony Williams and Joe Henderson; and in the '80s he played with Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan and Freddie Hubbard. During the '90s he played a key role in the fertile Downtown scene, leading his own ensembles while working closely with Tim Berne and his associates.
A veteran bandleader, Formanek's primary working group has been his acclaimed Quartet with Tim Berne, Craig Taborn, and Gerald Cleaver, although he has spearheaded a variety of other projects as well, ranging from the massive 18-piece all-star Ensemble Kolossus to solo bass excursions, as first documented on Am I Bothering You? (1998, Screwgun).
A composer of works for ensembles ranging in size from duo to orchestra, Formanek has received institutional support from Chamber Music America, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Peabody Conservatory, the Maryland State Arts Council, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Formanek was director of the Peabody Jazz Orchestra and the jazz bass instructor at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland for 17 years, leaving teaching full-time in 2017 to concentrate on his solo career.

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