'Jet-Black Notebook' is the eighth album release of drummer, composer, producer Sönke Düwer together with his Ensemble Du Verre on 'Batterie' Lable since the founding of the project in 2003. With the support of various artists, whom already had an appearance on the previous album 'Rooms', 10 new songs were created in two years of studio work.

The title as well as the cover picture give a good hint that 'Jet-Black Notebook' is my most personal album so far. A similar notebook has been my constant companion over the years. Project ideas, lyrics, to-do-lists (better known as annoying lists), thoughts and philosophies that pop up every now and then, planned advertising campaigns as well as contemplations, it is all in there.

And with that it becomes a source for new ideas. I quite often skip through what I had written at some point, giving me a new impulse when being stuck in composing or lyrics, reminding me of the great topics for songs I came across. Going forth and back on notes is just so vital for me that I even wrote a song about it, performed by the great Nora Becker, a Hamburg-based vocalist, who already contributed with her great voice on my last album 'Rooms'. It is just amazing that it took 2 years to produce 10 songs, but looking into my 'Jet-Black Notebook' just tells me why. I am melting everything in, condensing it and then extracting the essential. Creating atmospheres, putting arrangements and new versions together, only to understand that it must be completly different after all. The infinetly patient Jan-Philipp Kelber had to go through new arrangements over and over again during the recordings. But not because he had not perfomed well – he is a brilliant singer with warm and velvy soft voice as well as a gifted song writer, contributing the lyrics to 4 songs of the 'Jet-Black Notebook' album – but because I only knew where my heart would take me when working on the songs, on the music. A process that is well-worth to be be written down again. So the months passed, one version superceded the other, and very slowly I approached the result now to be heard.

It has never been easy to refer Ensemble Du Verre to a single music style. Now it is popular music, probably coming from Jazz. I always believed in different forms of expression, my music was always influenced by HipHop, House and Soul elements. It is not the elements that have changed – I am true to myself – but their position. The point of view changed, the focus is different. The piano is my center piece (quite a strange statement for a drummer, I guess). I am composing on it. Just sitting in front of it, hitting keys and singing.Just like on 'Rooms', all songs are written in way that they can be performed only with vocals an piano (except fort he two instrumental songs). So I guess 'Jet-Black Notebook' could be considered a singer/songwriter album. My Music can be many differnt things at the same time.