It all began in Leipzig, where Max Stadtfeld studied at the University of Music and Theatre under both Heinrich Kobberling and Michael Wollny, and ,.where there were also several clubs to which someone like him could go and really free up his playing. 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 eachn 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 its different each time. Theres a lot of substance to them and what they do. They have earned and deserved the trust they receive. Schools out for summer, for ever, and for the good. This is young German jazz at its best