| It would be difficult to conceive of a player who sounds less like anyone else and more like he’s speaking directly through his horn than Marty Ehrlich, states DOWNBEAT. Equally acclaimed for his composing and playing, Ehrlich is fluent on clarinet, saxophone and flutes. The Jazz Journalists Association honored him as Wind Player of the Year in 2001 and as Clarinetist of the Year in 2003. In 2004 Ehrlich was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in Composition.
Ehrlich debuted on Palmetto Records in 2003 with Line on Love, which featured one of his several working groups, the Marty Ehrlich Quartet, and continued his reputation as an extraordinarily compelling performer and one of the finest of his generation.
Ehrlich returns on Palmetto with his follow up, News on the Rail featuring James Zollar on trumpet and flugelhorn; Howard Johnson on tuba, baritone sax and bass clarinet; James Weidman on piano and melodica; Greg Cohen on bass; and Allison Miller on drums. Ehrlich plays alto saxophone and clarinet.
It’s eight original compositions traverse a landscape that is not readily defined by any one musical style. Ehrlich has been lauded as one of the most versatile jazz musicians of the last 30 years, and brings his experience to bear in this recording, fashioning a musical synthesis that is powerful and unique.
Ehrlich comments: I worked hard to shape the musical worlds of these pieces, each unique to each other but of a part. I loved having the range of instruments to compose for, from tuba to melodica to trumpet, and these wonderfully expressive musicians to bring the writing to light.
After hearing this new Marty Ehrlich Sextet featured on News on The Rail, Ben Ratliff of the NEW YORK TIMES wrote, “Marty Ehrlich’s sextet developed post-1960s ideas of jazz arrangement…touching down in the soul of the music’s mainstream.” |