Joachim Staudt - Quest (2020)

“Quest” - the mystical search for knowledge and meaning, the great adventure of life. This is the title and program of the new album by saxophonist Joachim Staudt. After the two well-known predecessors .Seven Wishes. (Moveo Records, 2017) and .Drop In The Ocean. (Personality Records, 2010) is Staudt with .Quest. succeeded in his most impressive and mature work to date.

The ten songs. only own compositions of the band leader. impress with their depth and independence. The quartet forms a magical and stirring sound world from these compositions, the roots of which can be found deep in jazz. At the same time, the music of this album lives from the variety of subtle influences from different genres. Sometimes it borrows from film music, sometimes West African or funk-inspired grooves, sometimes oriental or impressionistic timbres. It is these contrasts that keep the listener under their spell.

This album is characterized by Joachim Staudt's warm saxophone sound, which sometimes breathes airily and then grabs powerfully again. In addition to this, the bass clarinet sounds wooden and angular in some pieces. The Fender Rhodes Piano, which has shaped many songs with its distinctive sound since the 1970s, contributes much to the depth of this album with its warmth and tonal density. In combination with the grounded and soft foundation of bass and drums, this creates the unmistakable sound character of this album.

Staudt's previous career led him to study in Amsterdam, where he spent a total of seven years. There he not only immersed himself deeply in the jazz scene there, but also opened his horizons for a variety of other musical styles from soul to free improvisation to electronic music. As a saxophonist, his previous path through BuJazzO under Peter Herbolzheimer led him to various Sideman activities, including: with Eddy Martinez, Dawn Penn, Roy Ellis, Tom Gäbel, Rainer Tempel, Flowriders, on festival appearances and others at the Montreux Jazz Festival and Northsea Jazz Festival and on tours all over Europe.

He is supported on the Fender Rhodes piano by Anselm Krisch. The pianist and keyboardist works as a sought-after sideman and initiator of his own projects (Anselm Krisch Trio, whisper bag) in both traditional jazz and fusion.

Florian Dohrmann on double bass has been touring half the world as a long-time bass player of the David Orlowsky Trio and has won several echoes. However, he never neglected his love of jazz. Successful own projects (most recently Florian Dohrmann's .Blank Page.) Speak for themselves.

The drummer Lars Binder has an impressive portfolio and can be heard throughout Germany with the singer Cécile Verny and a variety of other jazz formations. With the Mannheim band L14,16, Binder has twice won the German Record Critics' Prize.