Black Glass Ensemble

“Arise From The Twilight”

In the summer of 2018 I picked up a sharpie and made a poster advertising for band members – the same way we did when we played for post punk bands as teenagers. Only I was asking for a very different palette of sounds; strings, brass, bells and the breath of God.

I had a sound manifesting in the back of my mind, a music that could not be pinned down as ambient, jazz or classical, a sound that would provide a viscous medium into which to plunge as a player or as a listener. And in the heart of that sound would come… something. Call it what you like – solace? the space between?

Instinct told me that I could not do this alone. And so the poster was drawn up, old style. I posted the picture onto Facebook and Twitter, along with the line “Arise from the twilight of the American century, and recover our fundamental bond to *that* feeling, *that* midnight. *that* promise on the cold wind.”

I waited.

Fast forward a couple of months and the Black Glass Ensemble met in a rehearsal studio on the outskirts of Edinburgh, in late October.

I have no doubt that something significant is emerging from this activity. I am not being met by much resistance – and am much encouraged by the reception that even mentioning the name is receiving. There is much work to be done through this dark and looming winter whilst I try to secure the resource necessary to realise the intent, but it is my hope that come the spring we will be of service to you.

Black Glass Ensemble are:
Clea Friend (cello)
Julia Lungu (violin)
Amaya Lopez-Carromero (keys)
Douglas Caskie (percussion/vibraphone)
Neil Cuthbertson (Trumpet)
Jen Cuthbertson (French Horn)
Ben Ponton (forensics)
Michael Begg (erosions)