"I find this music intriguing and very imaginative" - says the American star clarinetist Eddie Daniels about "Dark Wood Suite". 

The clarinet stands in the center of Alexander von Hagke's new CD. Together with his quartet, the versatile musician celebrates the black wood with intricate melodies and subtle harmony, combined with diverse grooves. 

The four-part "Dark Wood Suite" is the core piece of the repertoire. Its hues are intense and full of expression. The compositions set the light on various colours of the fascinating instrument, which is sometimes underestimated in jazz: the clarinet appears soft, intimate, fresh, agile, and warm; the bass clarinet is rather dark, expressive, mysterious. 

Four additional titles, two of them contributed by guitarist Alex Jung, extend the spectrum of sounds and complete the album- dark wood of many colors. 

"Dark Wood Suite" is Alexander von Hagke's second album release with enja. The Bavarian State Culture Award winner is at home in various musical worlds: He plays at jazz or avantgarde festivals, as well as in chamber music halls or with world-class symphony orchestras. 

Part of the quartet are also Passo Avanti guitarist and university teacher Alex Jung, his twin brother Heiko Jung (Panzerballett, Martin Grubinger, Klaus Doldinger, Academy of St Martin in the Fields a.o.) and ECHO award winning Bastian Jütte on drums. 

"Von Hagke's music has a maturity of playing and compositional refinement that you don't hear often from young jazz musicians." 
(JazzThing) 

"Classical composing principles and the jazz tradition can be heard strongly in his modern jazz- which is really modern. It leaves enough room for improvisations without losing the thread. His clarinet is distinctively unique." 
(Süddeutsche Zeitung)