Bassist Michael Formanek puts together a wide ranging 17 piece jazz orchestra here, with the centerpiece being an 8 part “Exoskeleton” suite (along with a 9 minute “Prelude”). The orchestra includes some heavy hitters like Tim Berne/bs, Chris Speed/ts-cl, Ralph Alessi/tp and Mary Halvorson /g, while the ensembles range from hard post modern swing on “VI Shucking While Jiving” to modern classical during “I Impenetrable” and “II Shell.” Halvorson creates some rich tapestries on “V Without Regrets” and the ensemble movements mix flavors of Sun Ra with Mingus. Quite a wild ride with lots of centrifugal force.
ECM Records