It all began in Leipzig, where Max Stadtfeld studied at the University of Music and Theatre under both Heinrich Köbberling and Michael Wollny, and where there were also several clubs to which someone like him could go and really free up his playing.
It is important that young jazz musicians can put what they have learned to good use. They need to get out and find their own stories because jazz lives through the selves of its protagonists. Only then can it become authentic and be a reflection of the world beyond. That is needed for the chain reaction to begin. “Music compresses impressions,” says Max Stadtfeld. When he talks, his lust for life is palpable; and even more so when he plays. “Rhythm fascinates me,” he says. And he does indeed feed his own rhythmic impetus and energy into his band, enabling the soloists to rise up off it. He occupies just the space he finds necessary. It’s about becoming empowered in the moment by doing the right thing. That sometimes means being able to step back and restrict oneself to just details, nuances and delicate tracery. One must not be too preoccupied with oneself, because then one loses the wood for the trees. The real fun begins when you can leave caution and over-discipline behind, ideally taking the whole band with you.
Stax (pronounced schtaks, and a free-form short version of the name of Max Stadtfeld), is an ideal band for such departures. The quartet found each other on the Leipzig- Cologne axis. Their music is not just some intellectual showing-off, it bobbles along in the rhythm-oriented mainstream, and yet, over and above that, it is imbued with an astonishing sense of both freshness and maturity.
Stax are playing the music of now. These musicians formulate shared narratives that go way beyond the mindless clicks and zappings of their generation. They listen to each other and react, and it’s different each time. There’s a lot of substance to them and what they do. They have earned and deserved the trust they receive. School’s out for summer, for ever, and for the good. This is young German jazz at its best.

Reza Askari is regarded as one of the most promising German talents on contrabass. Born in Fulda in 1986, Askari first played the electric bass and then switched to contrabass later. He is currently studying at the Folkwang University of Essen under Robert Landfermann in the degree program Master Of Improvising Arts. Despite his young age, he has already played with big names such as Marc Ducret, Jiggs Wigham, Herb Geller, Benny Golson, Jeff Hamilton, Nicolas Simion, Florian Ross, Frederik Köster and Pablo Held.