Stax

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.