MICHAEL MANRING (USA)
THE HOTTEST BASSIST TODAY !
FOLLOW THE ARTIST: 
www.manthing.com
On a typical week bassist Michael Manring may be found doing anything from an international tour with New Age keyboardist Suzanne Ciani to an avant-improv-core club gig with guitar innovator Henry Kaiser to a folk festival with celebrated troubadour John Gorka to a recording with the experimental post-metal trio, Attention Deficit with Tim Alexander (Primus) and Alex Skolnick (Testament).”it’s all music,” Manring shrugs when asked how he manages to balance so many different styles and genres, “I find the similarities to be more compelling than the differences and ultimately, I just love to play the bass.” The obvious pleasure that Michael takes in music captivates audiences and critics alike.
Building on the conceptions of his teacher, the late bass legend Jaco Pastorius, Michael has developed an entirely new approach to the instrument that includes unorthodox tunings, techniques and methodologies.He has honed his skills on over a hundred recordings as a session musician and thousands of concerts throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. One of his most rewarding and intimate musical collaborations was with the acoustic guitar genius Michael Hedges, who instantly enlisted Manring’s musical partnership when he first heard him play one of his imaginative solo bass compositions while Manring was still a teenager. Hedges’ tragic death in 1997 ended a truly extraordinary musical alliance-and a very deep friendship. Through Hedges, Manring was introduced to Windham Hill records where he was quickly signed as house bassist and solo artist. His four solo albums with the Windham Hill/BMG group (Unusual Weather, Toward the Center of the Night and Drastic Measures on Windham Hill; Thank on High Street) have earned him an international reputation as “a master of the fretless bass without rival.” (Guitar Club Magazine, Italy). He has also garnered two gold records, Grammy and Bammie nominations, a Berklee School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award and numerous Bass Player Magazine Reader’s Poll awards including 1994 Bassist of the Year.
Michael’s newest CDs, “Soliloquy” and “The Book of Flame” are the best example yet of his extraordinary creativity.While records by bass players tend to have a reputation for being musical fare strictly for the hardcore bass fan, Michael’s solo albums have consistently amazed listeners with their compositional depth and accessibility.He draws an astonishing variety of sounds out of the instrument, leading one writer to comment “Michael Manring can do more with a bass than even the most creative individual could imagine” (L.Pierce Carson, Napa Valley Register).On The Book of Flame the music ranges from crazed electro-acoustic constructions to intricate ensemble compositions to a gentle solo eulogy for Hedges.By seamlessly blending virtuosity, exotic tonalities and rhythms, bizarre instruments (and even stranger ways of playing them!), shades of elettronica, industrial, post-bop, noise-core, ambient and 20th century music with a refined compositional approach and a healthy sense of humour, he creates a tapestry that is rich with possibility and meaning.
Fortunately, Michael shows no signs of letting up.Currently, ha maintains a hectic schedule of recordingsessions, clinics and concerts as a soloist, sideman and with the Seattle underground punkjazz trio Sadhappy.Ha is also the subject of a recent PBS documentary, “The Artist’s Profile: Michael Manring.” We hope you’ll follow the advice of France’s Musicien magazine: “Do not miss your next opportunity to discover the bassist with the most fresh and inventive playing today.”
IMAGES
MICHAEL MANRING SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
With Alex de Grassi and Christopher Garcia
De man ia (Tropo records)
Solo Albums:
Unusual Weather (Windham Hill)
Toward the Center of the Night (Windham Hill)
Drastic Measures (Windham Hill)
Thonk (High Street)
The Book of Flame (Alchemy)
Soliloquy (Manthing Music)
with William Ackerman:
Past Light (Windham Hill)
Conferring with the Moon (Windham Hill)
Imaginary Roads (Windham Hill)
The Opening of Doors (Windham Hill)
Sound of Wind Driven Rain (Windham Hill)
with Altazor:
Concurrencia (Redwood Records)
with Darol Anger.
Heritage (Six Degrees)
with Darol Anger and Mike Marshall:
Chiaroscuro (Windham Hill)
with Enzo Avitabile:
Enzo Avitabile (EMI)
with Keola Beamer:
Dancers in the Land of Po (Dancing Cat)
with Kurt Bestor:
Sketches (BWE)
with Ken Bonfleld:
Homecoming (BWE)
Winternight (BWE)
with Evan Brubaker:
Third Floor (Cake)
with Suzanne Ciani and The Wave:
Live! (Seventh Wave)
with Barry Cleveland:
Volcano (Supersaturated)
with Cloud Chamber:
Dark Matter (Supersaturated)
with Larry Conklin:
Stranger World (Inak)
with April] Cope:
Two Moons (Acorn)
with Peppino D’Agostino:
Acoustic Spirit (Shanachie)
with D’Cuckoo:
Umoja (RGB)
with Jim Farrand:
3am on a Tuesday (Cake)
with Paolo Giordano:
Paolo Giordano (Step Musique)
Kid in a toy’s shop (Step Musique)
with John Gorka:
Jack’s Crows (High Street)
Temporary Road (High Street)
Out of the Valley (High Street)
Between Five and Seven (High Street)
After Yesterday (Red House)
with Michael Hedges:
Breakfast in the Field (Windham Hill)
Aerial Boundaries (Windham Hill)
Watching My Life Go By (Open Air)
Live from the Double Planet (Windham Hill)
Taproot (Windham Hill)
Oracle (Windham Hill)
with Rob Young:
Sticks and Stones (Imaginary Road)
with Danny Helnes:
One Heart Wild (Silver Wave)
with various artists:
An Evening with Windham Hill Live
A Winter’s Solstice II (Windham Hill)
A Winter’s Solstice III (Windham Hill)
Windham Hill Guitar Sampler II (Windham Hill)
A Winter’s Solstice V (Windham Hill)
A Winter’s Solstice V (Windham Hill)
A Winter’s Solstice Vi (Windham Hill)
Bass Player Magazine Fifth Anniversary CD (BP)
The SWR Sound (SWR)
The Carols of Christmas (Windham Hill)
A Very Green Christmas (Seventh Wave)
Summer Solstice (Windham Hill)
A Winter Solstice Reunion (Windham Hill)
Thanksgiving (Windham Hill)
With Barbara Higbie:
Signs of Life (Windham Hill)
with Henry Kalser and Wadada Leo Smith:
Yo Miles! (Shanachie)
with Patty Larkin:
Tango (High Street)
Angels Running (High Street)
Perishable Fruit (High Street)
with Mike Marshall:
Brasil Duets (Earthbeat)
with Monks of Doom:
Forgery (IRS)
with Montreux:
Sign Language (Windham Hill)
Let Them Say (Windham Hill)
with Holly Near:
Sky Dances (Redwood)
with Carlos Reyes:
The Beauty of it Ali (TBA)
with Sadhappy:
Good Day, Bad Dream (Periscope)
with Tadamltsu Salto:
A Perfect Match (Access Music)
It’s About Time (Access Music)
with Schonherz and Scott:
Under a Big Sky (Windham Hill)
with Richard Schonherz:
A Different Mozart (imaginary Road)
with Alex Skolnlck and Tim Alexander:
Attention Deficit (Magna Carta)
with the Skol Patrol:
The Skol Patrol (Gray Streak)
with Douglas Spotted Eagle:
Closer to Far Away (Windham Hill)
Pray (Higher Octave)
with Turtle island String Quartet:
By the Fireside (Windham Hill)
with Trapezold:
Moon Run (Narada)
with Kym Tuvim:
Kym Tuvim (Cake)