Stax`s 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. This quartet is playing the music of now - and at an amazing level of achievement. These musicians formulate shared narratives that go way beyond the mindless clicks and zappings of their generation.
Schools are such special places. Through providing the setting for encounters with great teachers, through developing a sense of the cohort, these venerable institutions can, when things go right, awaken a drive and an appetite for what comes next. The Leipzig University of Music and Drama is a case in point. It was where Max Stadtfeld studied, under teachers including Heinrich Köbberling and Michael Wollny. At the beginning of 2019, Wollny chose the 25-year-old drummer for his BAU.HAUS.KLANG quintet with Emile Parisien, Leafcutter John and Wolfgang Heisig. This experience wasn't just the continuation of the teacher-student relationship, because Leipzig offers other opportunities too: several clubs and other venues where someone like Max Stadtfeld could go and really free up his playing and become part of a community.It is important th...
line upMax Stadtfeld / drums
Matthew Halpin / tenor saxophone
Bertram Burkert / guitar
Reza Askari / double bass
Recorded by Christian Heck at Loft Cologne, December 4, 2017 & February 28, 2018
Mixed by Christian Heck at tonart-studio
Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann
Produced by Max Stadtfeld
Cover art by Jo Pauli: Nicht Sehen, by kind permission of the artist
