Marty Ehrlich's Dark Woods Ensemble: Emergency Peace

Marty Ehrlich, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, alto sax; Abdul Wadud, cello; Lindsey Horner, bass; Muhal Richard Abrams, piano. This title was part of the CounterCurrents series, with cover design by Steve Byram. "Everything that has dark sounds, has duende." This quote from an essay by Federico García Lorca has stayed with me for years. Lorca defines duende as the power that art can have to reach past the obvious, the self-conscious, the superficial. It is a sensibility that hides from facile technique and shuns direct repetition. At times the sounds of the clarinet, the vibrations of its dark wood, help me reach a place that seems most expressive among the instruments I play. Although I use here the flute and saxophone as well, the blend of clarinet with strings is the core sound of this ensemble, whether that blend is extended or contrasted. As "Dark Woods" is descriptive of our instrumentation, I hope it is also suggestive of something essential we've brought to light. Emergency P