Review: Thumbscrew’s ‘Multicolored Midnight’

The fourth cut on Thumbscrew’s Multicolored Midnight (Cuneiform, 2022) is entitled “Shit Changes.” You don’t have to be a climate scientist or Sam Bankman-Fried to appreciate the truth of that phrase, and it could just be another of bassist Michael Formanek’s cheekily subversive titles. Yet despite ten years of consistently provocative and satisfying music making, the cooperative trio of Formanek, drummer Tomas Fujiwara and guitarist Mary Halvorson is changing too, and Multicolored Midnight offers persuasive and fascinating evidence of evolution.

Let’s start with the instrumentation. You might not notice Formanek’s subtle electronics, but like a tiny dollop of miso in a broth, they add a crucial umami. More obvious is the addition of Fujiwara’s vibraphone, which adds an eerie, vaporousness to his own “Future Reruns and Nostalgia,” and provides a second melodic voice on “Shit Changes.” It’s like a George Shearing Group on acid.

Thumbscrew has always presented itself as a leaderless cooperative. No other band sounds like this one, yet the strong ensemble identity never obscures the three composers’ individual voices. With credits on five of the 11 tracks, Formanek is the most prominent composer here. His “I’m A Senator!” is a swaggering fat-cat strut down the halls of Congress set to a funky bassline and crisp backbeat. The ADHD opening of “Fidgety” is truth in titling, as is “Should Be Cool,” a laconic, Motianesque rubato line. Halvorson’s title cut, one of her three contributions to the recording, also comes as advertised. It has a melancholic, vaguely country section, a flavor that also appears in her occasionally Ornette-ish “Survival Fetish.” Her “Swirling Lines” could be through-composed, a lovely bit of chamber jazz that would have been equally at home on Halvorson’s much-praised solo release Amaryllis (Nonesuch, 2022). Fujiwara’s other contributions are “Song For Mr. Humphries,” dedicated to Pittsburgh drum elder Roger Humphries, and “Brutality and Beauty,” a knotty line over a deft, additive-meter groove. It’s a capsule statement of the trio’s working method: tight, imaginative structures with exploratory solos, and ensemble cohesion that frames individual virtuosity and grooves, but not the grooves you might expect. Shit may change, but a decade after its founding Thumbscrew is still at the summit of creative music.

Multicolored Midnight is now available on Cuneiform Records. It can be purchased on Bandcamp.

Tracklist: 1. I’m A Senator!; 2. Song For Mr. Humphries; 3. Survival Fetish; 4. Shit Changes; 5. Fidgety; 6. Multicolored Midnight; 7. Future Reruns and Nostalgia; 8. Capsicum Annuum; 9. Swirling Lives;10. Should Be Cool; 11. Brutality and Beauty.  

Personnel: Michael Formanek (double bass and electronics), Tomas Fujiwara (drums and vibraphone), Mary Halvorson (guitar).  

Photo credit: Brian Cohen