(ECM, Modern Creative Jazz, Avant-Garde) [CD] Michael Formanek & Ensemble Kolossus (Ralph Alessi, Mary Halvorson, Loren Stillman, Kris Davis, Kirk Knuffke, Alan Ferber, Tomas Fujiwara a.o) - The Distance - 2016, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011
EAC extraction logfile from 24. March 2016, 2:06
Michael Formanek / The Distance
Used drive  : PLEXTOR DVDR   PX-Q840U   Adapter: 4  ID: 0
Read mode               : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache      : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction                      : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out          : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks   : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations       : Yes
Used interface                              : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling                                : Appended to previous track
Used output format              : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate                : 1024 kBit/s
Quality                         : High
Add ID3 tag                     : No
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TOC of the extracted CD
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        5  | 52:21.23 | 11:29.34 |    235598    |   287306
        6  | 63:50.57 |  7:28.19 |    287307    |   320925
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Track  2
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Track  3
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Track  4
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Track  5
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Track  6
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None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database
No errors occurred
End of status report
---- CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.3
[CTDB TOCID: pI1qjFyYh1PNWk0T4mfhhRHYkU0-] found, Submit result: already submitted
[ba72a809] (4/4) Accurately ripped
==== Log checksum 2634EF63BE57C3E78E8C8B3DF2C4F76A1FAE1F15AF6B21219E3A01DEF84B6100 ====

REM GENRE Jazz
REM DATE 2016
REM DISCID 3B10B706
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v1.0b3"
CATALOG 0602547594075
PERFORMER "Michael Formanek"
TITLE "The Distance"
FILE "01 - The Distance.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Distance"
    PERFORMER "Michael Formanek"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "02 - Exoskeleton Prelude.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Exoskeleton Prelude"
    PERFORMER "Michael Formanek"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "03 - Exoskeleton Pts. I-III.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Exoskeleton Pts. I-III"
    PERFORMER "Michael Formanek"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "04 - Exoskeleton Pts. IV-V.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Exoskeleton Pts. IV-V"
    PERFORMER "Michael Formanek"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "05 - Exoskeleton Pts. VI-VII.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Exoskeleton Pts. VI-VII"
    PERFORMER "Michael Formanek"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "06 - Exoskeleton Pt. VIII.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "Exoskeleton Pt. VIII"
    PERFORMER "Michael Formanek"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
    INDEX 02 07:28:15

Here's a surprise. Bassist Michael Formanek is probably best known for his two recent ECM Records dates, Rub and Spare Change (2010) and Small Places, a couple of modernistic quartet sessions featuring saxophonist Tim Berne, pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver. These are tight and intense sets, architecturally solid, free-like outings that may have helped bring Taborn and Berne into the ECM fold for their own leader slots on the label. With a modest—in terms of numbers—discography as a leader, and a huge one as a sideman, including a handful of excellent Steeplechase Records teamings with pianist Harold Danko in the early 2000s, there is nothing in Formanek's discography to suggest a magnificent acumen as a writer/arranger in the big band format.
But here it is: The Distance by Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus.
Formanek is not, though, a stranger to writing for larger ensembles. An Educator at Baltimore's Peabody Conservatory of Music, he has penned The Open Book, for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Soloists, premiered by the Peabody Concert Orchestra in 2007. For The Distance Formanek employes an eighteen piece big band, and the results are about as different from his ECM small ensemble sets as they could be.
Opening with the six minute title tune, the sound is somber and portentous, closer to modern classical than jazz, a sacred music tone poem of sorts, with a reverent, soft-edged, less-than-one G unison from the ensemble cushioning a pensive tenor sax solo by Brian Settles.
Then onto the meat of the music beneath the chitinous plastic of the CD's jewel case: "Exoskeleton," a suite—or maybe a symphony—that takes up the reminder of the disc's generous 71-plus minutes.
"Exoskeleton Prelude" begins with a ringing and succinct bass solo from the leader that settles into a searching ensemble groove, airy and slightly atonal, with an oddly spooky gracefulness that gathers momentum in a trio segment (drummer Tomas Fujiwara, pianist Kris Davis and Formanek) that, with the return of the ensemble, blossoms into a strident argument.
"Exoskeleton Parts 1 through 3," is a twenty-one and a half minute suite-within-a-suite that sways from brash to delicately intricate, from dense to diaphanous, from Mingus-onian intensity to Ellington-ian harmony and swing, to Satoko Fujii weirdness, with too many adept, captivating and concise solos sneaking into the mix to count. And that's only about half the set. The remaining thirty-five minutes is more of the same unique and complex-yet approachable arrangements, vehemently vivacious soloing and a surprising array—through instrumental interplay—of new ideas on how a jazz orchestra ought to sound.
A stunning achievement.
5/5 stars!
(Dan McClenaghan, AllAboutJazz)

Loren Stillman - Alto Saxophone, Flute
Oscar Noriega - Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Chris Speed - Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet
Brian Settles - Tenor Saxophone, Flute
Tim Berne - Baritone Saxophone
Dave Ballou - Trumpet
Ralph Alessi - Trumpet
Shane Endsley - Trumpet
Kirk Knuffke - Cornet
Alan Ferber - Trombone
Jacob Garchik - Trombone
Ben Gerstein - Trombone
Jeff Nelson - Bass & Contrbass Trombone
Patricia Brennan - Marimba
Mary Halvorson - Guitar
Kris Davis - Piano
Michael Formanek - Double Bass, Compositions
Tomas Fujiwara - Drums