Heavy chamber music. Neo-Gothic, subterranean pseudo-new music. De-jazzed riff rock. Exactly four bass clarinets, putting out rhythmic, sonorous, flowing and angular vibrations: a huge reed sound you can sink your teeth into.

12 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Instrumental Rock, METAL/PUNK: Neo-Classical Metal

Show all album songs: Tooth & Claw Songs


Details:
The quartet is like Tony Iommi, Wendy Carlos, Les Claypool and Howlin Wolf playing blackjack against Eric Dolphy. It was originally founded on two principles: the bass clarinet can achieve a virtually unlimited range of sounds, and when this same instrumental voice is multiplied, it can be as powerful as a boogie woogie piano, a gospel quartet or a rock band. Indeed the very first arrangements were of the Swan Silvertones, Montana Taylor and the Pixies. The originals compositions have evolved into a style unique unto themselves while maintaining a stylistic consistency at their core, and the arrangements conquered by the quartet now include Black Sabbath and Sepultura songs.

There is no precedent for a wind-based ensemble such as this attempting to build these massive bridges between avant jazz, new music, black metal and classic rock. Those with truly open ears will be ready for this sound and will understand the sounds. With the help of our Bay Area friends and colleagues such as Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, the Kehoe Nation, and Rube Waddell we are finding and collecting these open-minded listeners.

Winners of the 2nd place in the International Songwriters Competition "Instrumental" Category for the title track of their upcoming album "Tooth & Claw."

What the press said about the first Edmund Welles album, Agrippa's 3 Books:

"This strange thing may be the most original and total use of the clarinet yet recorded. Steeped in arcane symbols, clever wit and skilled musicianship, Agrippaâs 3 Books defies all expectations of the range of its featured instrument. Despite the dense philosophies expounded in the accompanying booklet, the Edmund Welles quartet is hardly a somber experiment, calling forth honks, buzzes, beeps, hums, the stormy grind of a heavy-metal guitar, and the bluesy cry of a saxophone all from the clarinetâs throat. It surges in staccato bursts and slows to a vintage vibrato, demanding attention, irritating if left as mere background music. If thereâs such a thing as in-your-face classical, this would be it, deft and tricky, nervy yet polite. Includes diverse and astute references to David Lynch, Arturo Perez-Reverte, Black Sabbath, and Spinal Tap."
--Gothic Beauty Magazine, Issue 24

"The music itself matches the titles well, consistently out of kilter, full of disarmingly quirky juxtapositions and rhythmic surprises. Boots has an inventively playful take on his material, and the unforeseen turns that the music makes are both highly sophisticated and highly entertaining, even more fun than the program notes lead us to expect. For fans of new music and/or heavy metal, Boots' original voice is not to be missed."
--allmusic.com

"Edmund Welles: the bass clarinet quartet, really is unique. Their intricate, classically arranged but sometimes rock-inflected clarinet music--BASS clarinet music--transports the listener into a special state of mind, where strange notions flower. It's all fairly indescribable."
--John Shirley's Edge Trends Online Magazine