Ensemble Du Verre
New record out now!
To listen or to buy the music, please visit E.D.V. at BANDCAMP
It's often difficult to pin yourself down. Is this still jazz, or what is it supposed to be? Is that even important? I released ten individual songs (singles) last year (2023). Now brought together on this album, some of them reworked. Music in process. A passage, nothing stays the same, everything changes. Just like in a good life. Piano, bass, drums, electronics and vocals. Ingredients of my music since the beginning of "Ensemble Du Verre". Some things don't change after all.
Ensemble Du Verre (E.D.V.), the project of the Hamburg based
musician Sönke Düwer, has stood since its beginning for the rar
mixture of demendand accessibility, for a fusion of different
musical styles and dynamics with amazingly homogeneous
results.
The core of Düwer´s diverse musical sensibilities was and is
Jazz – a conception of Jazz beyond purism. Düwer is a free
spirit, for him Jazz means neighter stylistic pegging nor any
genre-hopping, but living space.
For the record „Sanctuary For Animals“ E.D.V. received the
„Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik“. In 2014 the project
was nominated for the „Bremer Jazzpreis“.
Story
Twenty Years of Inspiration
The first sketches for the Ensemble Du Verre debut album "facing, transparent" were made in 2002. I started working on this album with my long-time friend and musical companion Daniel Cordes (double bass), Stefan Meinberg (trumpet), Klaas Ueberschär (trumpet) and Anna Depenbusch (vocals), whom I was able to get permission from to use some of her vocal samples that I had originally recorded with her for my jazz-groove project "Groove Galaxi".
In general, Hamburg musicians have played a major role in the
creation process of E.D.V. music over the past 20 years. Here
is the shortlist:
Edgar Herzog (saxophones & bassclarinette), Silvan
Strauss (drums), Nora Becker (vocals), Claas
Ueberschär (trumpet & Keyboards), Adrian Hanack (tenor
Saxophone), Daniel Stritzke (bass guitar), Stefan
Meinberg (trompete & flügelhorn), Jan-Philipp Kelber
(vocals), Umut Abaci (scratching), Ute Lorenzen
(vocals), and many more
Apart from even more colleagues from the republic, there have also been some nice encounters with vocalists and musicians from distant countries over the years. That, for whatever reason, has been something special and has always been (felt) an honor for me.
In 20 years of work as a composer and producer, several albums, EPs and contributions to compilations have come into being. Videos were shot, we played live to running film and gave many concerts. In clubs and at festivals.
The Attempt of a Description
Ensemble Du Verre (EDV), the project of Hamburg musician Sönke Düwer, has since its beginnings stood for the rare mixture of ambition and accessibility, for a fusion of different musical styles and dynamics with amazingly homogeneous results.
At the core of Düwer's diverse musical sensibilities was and is jazz - a conception of jazz beyond purism. Düwer is a free spirit, for him jazz means neither stylistic pegging nor fond genre-hopping, but - living space.
Currently - pop, another hardly defined musical region. Balladic songwriter-pop, created at the piano, minimalistic and soulful, with quiet, clear beats and softly shimmering ambient textures. Confidently carried by unused vocalists like Jan-Philipp Kelber and Nora Becker, the complex song material is conceivably far away from the pretentious, thin-walled ballad mishmash of today's mainstream. Maturity is the key word. Individuality is a second.
All photos and covers were taken and produced by Sönke Düwer in 2023.
Send a Message!
Ensemble Du Verre
...eine der künstlerisch
herausragenden Neuveröffentlichungen des
deutschenTonträgermarktes...
„Preis der deutschen
Schallplattenkritik“