Faculty artist Michael Formanek’s new CD release on ECM, “The Distance,” received reviews in Downbeat Magazine, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and The Jazz Breakfast. Downbeat Magazine‘s review marks Mr. Formanek’s third consecutive five-star “Masterpiece Rating” review from the publication since 2010. The January Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus concert at Creative Alliance in Baltimore has ben rescheduled for Friday, September 9. Ensemble Kolossus will play its official CD release concert at The Jazz Standard in New York on March 22-23 at 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm both nights. “Ensemble Kolossus wears its exoskeleton proudly. Michael Formanek’s musical world is a kind of gracious envelopment of everyone present,” wrote John Ephland in the Downbeat Magazine review. “The writing is most impressive… Ensemble Kolossus is making a large contribution already to the burgeoning big band landscape of the 21st century…. A hugely rewarding listen,” wrote Peter Bacon in The Jazz Breakfast.