Album Notes

The San Francisco-based Sqwonk bass clarinet duo is a dynamic and adventurous ensemble, dedicated to exploring the full expressive range of the bass clarinet, from deep resonances to raucous wails. Though grounded in the classical tradition, Sqwonk plays music that draws on a wide range of influences, from minimalism to klezmer to heavy metal to blues to improvisation to avant-garde, creating a repertoire that is innovative and contemporary, yet broadly accessible to a wide audience.

This CD embodies our passion to create a repertoire of bold new works for bass clarinet duo. To this end, we commissioned new pieces from seven of our favorite composers. We couldn’t be more pleased with how these works turned out. From the low interweavings of Marc Mellits’ title track to the soaring melodies of Cornelius Boots’ and Aaron Novik’s works, to the interlocked grooves of Dan Becker and James Holt, to the relentless drive of Ryan Brown’s and Ken Thomson’s pieces, these works are the collective Big Bang of bass clarinet duo possibility, exploding a universe of double bass clarinet power out of the inky black void.

We are thrilled to have enabled the creation of these compositions, and proud to present them to listeners on this CD. We hope to birth many more bass clarinet duos into existence in the future, and to share them with as wide and diverse an audience as we can. To learn and hear more, look for us on YouTube and visit us at www.sqwonk.com.