lb-013 Tim Berne & Michael Formanek-
Ornery People CD

$10.00

Released August 1998.

Though Tim Berne and Michael Formanek have worked together for years, this is the first recording of them together as a duo.

TIM BERNE
Tim Berne is arguably one of the most influential alto saxophone players in the past twenty years. His style is both sophisticated and raw; he is a deft improviser and an accomplished composer. Like his mentor, Julius Hemphill, Berne's compositions are his strong suit, but he also knows when to channel the spirit of the free-jazz pioneers and just blow, or when to lay back and let the other musicians take control.

Berne began issuing his own albums on his own Empire label in 1979. Over the next five years he would record and distribute five albums under his own name which included such musicians as Ed Schuller, Olu Dara, Paul Motian, John Carter, Glenn Ferris and Bill Frisell. Following two recordings for the Italian Soul Note label, Berne recorded Fulton Street Maul and Sanctified Dreams for Columbia Records. These recordings coincided with an increasingly active worldwide touring schedule.

In 1988 Berne began a long relationship with the JMT label with the first of two recordings with the co-operative Miniature (with Joey Baron and Hank Roberts). In 1989 Berne's JMT release Fractured Fairy Tales was hailed as a masterpiece by the New York Times. Berne's JMT legacy climaxed with the historic Paris Concerts given by his quartet bloodcount, released in three volumes (Lowlife, Poisoned Minds and Memory Select). These recordings have received unanimous praise. Since 1994, bloodcount has performed over 250 concerts worldwide.
In 1996 Berne once again founded his own record label, Screwgun, and released a three CD set of live recordings by bloodcount, Unwound. He also had a new string quartet, dry ink, silence, premiered by the Kronos Quartet at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. 1997 found Berne touring the U.S. and Europe with bloodcount, writing music for large ensemble on commission, and preparing the next three Screwgun releases by his bands bloodcount and Paraphrase. In addition, a recording of The Visible Man, a piece commissioned in 1992 for the Rova Saxophone Quartet, has just been issued on a disc called The Works, Volume 2 on the Black Saint label.

MICHAEL FORMANEK
Composer/bassist Michael Formanek may have one of the most diverse biographies in contemporary improvised music. At first glance his list of musical affiliations is both intriguing and confusing. Spanning nearly twenty three years he has played and/or recorded with Tim Berne, Freddie Hubbard, Stan Getz, Marty Ehrlich, Chet Baker, Tony Williams, Gerry Mulligan, Mingus Dynasty, Mingus Big Band, Joe Henderson, and many others.

In the past ten years Formanek has performed his music many times with a wide range of ensembles. His band, Wide Open Spaces, played at the Leverkusener Jazztage in Leverkusen, Germany, the Espoo Festival in Finland, Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors in New York City, as well as many clubs and concert halls in the United States and Europe. Ongoing projects include Tim Berne's bloodcount, "Relativity," a new cooperative trio with Peter Erskine and Marty Ehrlich, and the Tim Berne/Michael Formanek duo. Formanek has also released a solo bass recording for Berne's label, Screwgun, entitled Am I Bothering You?.