Red Hering - Butter Bei Die Fische | Jazzthing Next Generation Vol. 105 (2024) [Hi-Res]

His name is Hering—Maximilian Hering (English: “Herring”). It quickly became clear to the German drummer and composer that he should use it as a tag for a band name and the title of the album debut. The English "to throw a red herring" literally means deliberately introducing irrelevant or misleading information to divert attention away from the real issue and consequently create a distraction. "Butter bei die Fische" is a traditional, even today ubiquitous saying from northern German, with which one asks someone to get to the point or not to do any half-way measures.

Maximilian Hering admitted with a laugh that he was originally not familiar the saying with the fish. No wonder: the musician grew up in Mainz, studied in Arnhem in the Netherlands, then lived in Barcelona for two years, and recently moved from Mainz to Cologne. "Butter bei die Fische” is a northern German saying that literally translates as “Butter with the fish” but means get to the point; he hadn't heard that anywhere on all his paths in life. Hering likes something like that. “I've always found it funny when people like Thelonious Monk or Lee Konitz refer to their name in titles.” There is also an attitude to life contained therein: “I often try to take things with humor. It can seem strange and even dangerous to take something too seriously. In principle, it is good not to always take yourself too seriously." This is also reflected in a pleasant degree of modesty. After all, he himself emphasized, his name is not among the widely established ones in the field, but instead he is just getting started with Red Hering as well as the other groups and projects in his sphere of activity.

Red Hering has existed since 2019. All those involved in the German-Dutch sextet are connected to Arnheim, the capital of the province of Gelderland on the Lower Rhine. Maximilian Hering was born in 1994 and turned 30 in July. He had already received his first little drum kit as a gift in preschool age: the start of a passion. He discovered the world of jazz one day. After having received several young talent awards, studying music was an obvious option. The drummer went to Arnhem in 2015. For his bachelor degree concert in 2019, he put together a six-piece line-up that is almost identical in personnel to the current Red Hering line-up. Sara Bax is the new singer today, even then a fellow student of Hering’s; he also plays in her group. The concert was not only extremely successful, but it also had an impact. The band agreed that it had to continue with the sextet. As a result, Red Hering came into existence.

Maximilian Hering had previously spent an Erasmus semester in Barcelona shortly before that. After his studies, he returned there for the first time. The drastic restrictions of the first Corona lockdown only temporarily prevented him from gaining a foothold in the music scene there. "The scene fascinated me for a long time, especially the special mentality of the people, which is also expressed in the way they play: everyone is very positive, everyone dares to do something." He founded the Maximilian Hering Group there and recorded his first album "Nostalgia" with a classical quintet in 2021. In addition, an EP with a completely different band was recorded: Max Hering & The Foaming Waves is a surf-jazz quartet! Maximilian had developed a love for surf sound through Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction". His enthusiasm for films is related to his parents' home. Hering's father is a film music composer. Maximilian has also composed or developed music for short films. However, one thing is certain: "I'm more of an instrumentalist who likes to go out and make music together with others."

The bandleader composed and arranged eight of the ten songs on "Butter bei die Fische". His second instrument is the piano. "I usually find it a pity when drummers compose in such a way that the pieces form only a framework for beats and blatant things, but otherwise do not inspire much with them." Maximilian's pieces are the complete opposite. A shining role model for him is Brian Blade and the music the American composed for his Fellowship Band. Herring developed very little based on the drums. A striking exception is the cool 7/8-8/8-groove, which makes "Journey" a gripping digression in the program. Many compositions have an autobiographical background. The opener names a street in a central, rather rough district of Barcelona that he came to appreciate (Carrer de Joaquín Costa). The fast-paced "Corredors de l'Alba" about joggers at sunrise on Barcelona's beach is also available in a version with the Foaming Waves. "Marona" is the nickname of an old flame: a melodic, embracing album finale. With "Farewell Season", a melancholy highlight of the program, he captures the emotional states of two farewells: from the Catalan metropolis and from the place where he studied. The "Park Sonsbeek" is located in the middle of Arnhem. a green oasis that entices you to linger. "A lot happened to me emotionally there, including dates and breakups." With its moods and sound colors, this multi-layered piece points to the influence of film music on Maximilian. The track is one of two for which he included the Paranormal String Quartet from Munich. He composed the chamber music piece "Nostalgia" in Arnhem, and he specifically added the flugelhorn of Marko Mebus later.

If you really want to construct a relation between music and album title, "Butter bei die Fische" does not exaggerate in promising too much. And this is exactly what Maximilian Hering has provided here in every respect. And how!