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The Magic of Consistency

Maik Krahl

The Magic of Consistency

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Records
UPC: 0608917358421
Catnr: CR 73584
Release date: 08 November 2024
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Label
Challenge Records
UPC
0608917358421
Catalogue number
CR 73584
Release date
08 November 2024

"... Flexible lines that seem to meander effortlessly through the registers are a specialty of Cologne trumpeter and flugelhorn player Maik Krahl..."

WDR, 28-11-2024
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Artist(s)
Composer(s)
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About the album

Where would a painter paint if it were not on a white canvas? Where would a composer compose if it were not on the stave and the spaces in between the lines? How would a musician play his instrument if there were no melodies composed, written down, painted for him to follow?

The magic of art needs a frame, a somewhat solid container to hold the freedom that can only be found once we integrate some form of structure. And that also holds in every other area of life. We all need a frame, a structure, a rhythm, or else, we fall apart. This human form needs the body, and yet it transcends the limitations of the body - through art.

Consistency being one of them seems oftentimes less tangible, for it resides more in the act of doing, and showing up for the practice, for devoting energy and presence. Strangely, if we consistently show up for our practice, regardless of its form, the solid frame of the hour we devote to playing the instrument, learning a language, doing the sport, sitting silently for that meditation: It feels different every single time. It feels new every single time.

The repetitive consistency in being present again and again allows for nothing short of magic to happen. Magic feeds consistency. Consistency feeds magic. Consistency sets a foundation that strengthens over time. It allows us to slowly but surely develop any kind of skill, to find and hence to embody expertise. On the fertile grounds of such a solid foundation, creativity fosters, and innovation blossoms.

Establishing consistent rituals and routines can bring a sense of comfort and safety into every-day-life. For routine beholds repetition and its frame enables our experience within to change. In the familiar, we dare to explore, maybe even experiment, merely because a part of us remembers we depart from, and always return to, a safe space. We do not get lost. We do not fall apart. As we practice, again and again, we build resilience in overcoming obstacles or literally persevering through challenging situations and stretches of time.

While consistency gifts steadiness and stability, its overdose risks to result in what may appear as uniformity. It feels like constantly - consistently - dancing on the fine line of freedom within a structure. Life is filled with unexpected twists and turns, adjustments need to be made to accommodate change and avoid rigidity. By striking a balance between consistency and flexibility, we can create harmony in our lives, just like a beautiful melody that flows smoothly from one note to the next.

Within the magical waves of music, skills are needed, too. Consistency is key to show up and do the work. It frames the freedom of magic that resides beyond and only beyond effort. Learning to play an instrument, learning to sing, does never happen within the blink of the eye. It takes time. Time to show up for the practice, to do precisely that: practice. Again and again, every single time, again and again. Precision feeds perfection that falls apart inside the structure of a song, a line, a rhythm, dissolving into magic.

Consistency in practicing, in composing and sharing music with the world regardless of the form allows any musician to refine his style, to carve out his uniqueness. For any artistic expression is, after all: Unique. And this uniqueness is born inside the vessel of any structure, over and over again. Sharing music in the form of new releases and public performances nourishes the bond between artist and audience. And for that to unfold, both parties need to show up - while the underlying beat of this never-ending practice is presence fuelled by consistency.

Musiker seines Profils gibt es durchaus einige, noch dazu solche, die technisch am obersten Level mit der Trompete agieren können. Doch die Einzigartigkeit von Maik Krahl liegt darin, dass er sich nie auf seinen Lorbeeren ausruht, sondern jedes Album, jede neue Besetzung als Herausforderung begreift, als willkommene Möglichkeit, die nächste Stufe auf seiner schon jetzt imposanten Karriereleiter zu erklimmen. Wer The Magic of Consistency mit dem 2022 erschienen Vorgänger In-Between Flow vergleicht, der wird rasch feststellen, dass der Zauber der Beständigkeit bei dem 33-Jährigen daran liegt, immer und überall erstklassige Kompositionen, Top-Besetzungen und herausragende musikalische Darbietungen abliefern zu wollen. Denn in seiner Lesart bedeutet das englische Wort „Consistency“ auch „Dranbleiben“. Das, so Krahl, sei generell wichtig – in der Musik wie im Leben.

Manchmal bringt es einen aber auch weiter einfach etwas für eine gewisse Zeit liegen zu lassen – eine Reifeprozess. „Das gehört ebenfalls zur Konsistenz“, findet Krahl. Ist also der Spagat zwischen Beständigkeit und Flexibilität das große Geheimnis eines erfüllten Lebens, nicht bloß als Musiker? Die Antwort liefert The Magic of Consistency auf eindrucksvolle Weise. Natürlich stammen alle Kompositionen wieder einmal vom Bandleader höchstpersönlich. Es sind Stücke, die den Geist der großen Tage des Jazz atmen, ohne auch nur in einer einzigen Millisekunde zurückzublicken, altbacken, nostalgisch oder womöglich kopierend daherzukommen. Das Quartett als reduziertes Besetzungsformat und die Stücke bieten den Instrumentalisten alle Möglichkeiten, ihre Fähigkeiten in ihrer ganzen Pracht entfalten zu können.

Krahl sagt, es sei auch mitnichten ein Gegensatz zu seinem Leitmotiv „Beständigkeit“, mit Ideen stets flexibel zu operieren. Das bedeutet, eine klangliche Ästhetik, die einst für Furore sorgte, wie das offen swingende Klangbild des Quartetts von Gerry Mulligan und Chet Baker, nicht als Dogma zu betrachten, sondern den eigenen Bedürfnissen anzupassen, wie dies in Le Pin Sec passiert. Die Musik des in Bautzen geborenen und heute in Köln lebenden Trompeters modelliert eine variable Skulptur aus dunklen wie hellen Emotionen: Nachdenklichkeit (Roofless / A Topless Structure in the Middle of Nowhere), Entschlossenheit (The Magic of Consistency), stilles Glück (Dance for Lovely Sleepy Humans), mit Händen greifbare Ungeduld (wie im nervösen, Bebop artigen Colorado Adventure), Neugier (Wolf and Dog / Friendly Encounter), Zupacken (Waiting for the Third Minute) oder einfach nur Warten (Tragedy of Being in Time).

Was gerade live ins Ohr sticht, ist die hörbare Lust und Beweglichkeit der beteiligten Instrumentalisten, Maik Krahl als primus inter pares auf seinem spannenden Notenweg zu folgen. Und galt der Trompeter, der während seines Studiums in Dresden und Essen von solch hochkarätigen Lehrern wie Till Brönner, Malte Burba und Ryan Carniaux unterrichtet wurde, schon vor Jahren als kleine Attraktion in der Republik, so hat er diesmal wieder ein bisschen draufgesattelt. Es sind nicht mehr ausschließlich die Balladen, die Krahls Meisterschaft unterstreichen, sondern mittlerweile auch atemberaubende Uptempo-Nummern, in denen er den Ritt auf des Messers Schneide zur virtuosen Königsdisziplin erhebt und seine Kollegen charmant, aber unmissverständlich dazu zwingt, zu ihm aufzuschließen.

Man muss nicht unbedingt analytisch hinhören, sondern nur seinen Konzerten als Ganzes nachfühlen. Dann wird man wieder einmal am Schluss verwundert feststellen, dass Maik Krahl und seine Gefährten kein einziges langweiliges Stück oder irgendeinen belanglosen Ton gespielt haben. Das Zauberhafte daran ist, dass dieses unglaubliche Niveau mittlerweile bei ihm zu einem wesentlichen Teil seiner Beständigkeit geworden ist.

Artist(s)

Seamus Blake (saxophone)

New York based saxophonist/composer SEAMUS BLAKE is recognized as one of the finest exponents of contemporary jazz. His music is known for its sophistication, bold improvisations and “sheer swagger'.  John Scofield, who hired Seamus for his “Quiet Band,” called him “extraordinary, a total saxophonist.” Throughout his 24 year career, Seamus has garnered considerable critical praise for his masterful playing, his fine compositional skills and for his facility as a leader. Superconductor is Seamus’ most ambitious project to date and was released in December 2015. The talent includes Nate Smith, Matt Garrison, Scott Kinsey, a 7 piece orchestral ensemble as well as special guest appearances by John Scofield and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. The album marks the debut of Seamus on EWI (electronic wind instrument). 
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New York based saxophonist/composer SEAMUS BLAKE is recognized as one of the finest exponents of contemporary jazz. His music is known for its sophistication, bold improvisations and “sheer swagger". John Scofield, who hired Seamus for his “Quiet Band,” called him “extraordinary, a total saxophonist.” Throughout his 24 year career, Seamus has garnered considerable critical praise for his masterful playing, his fine compositional skills and for his facility as a leader. Superconductor is Seamus’ most ambitious project to date and was released in December 2015. The talent includes Nate Smith, Matt Garrison, Scott Kinsey, a 7 piece orchestral ensemble as well as special guest appearances by John Scofield and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. The album marks the debut of Seamus on EWI (electronic wind instrument).
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Maik Krahl (trumpet)

Maik Krahl represents his generation’s current top of the German jazz trumpeter. His musical statements enrich me and let me look forward into a future of a whole genre, which will always exist. Big compliment! - Till Brönner Maik Krahl completed his jazz studies at Carl Maria von Weber Hochschule für Musik Dresden and also studied the Master of Music Jazz Improvising Artist at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. His most influencing teachers were Till Brönner, Malte Burba and the American jazz trumpet player Ryan Carniaux. His first album Decidophobia was released in 2018 with Double Moon / Challenge Records International. His second album Fraction featuring Seamus Blake was released two years later in May 2020 with Challenge Records International. With his own quartet, Krahl plays...
more

Maik Krahl represents his generation’s current top of the German jazz trumpeter. His musical statements enrich me and let me look forward into a future of a whole genre, which will always exist. Big compliment! - Till Brönner

Maik Krahl completed his jazz studies at Carl Maria von Weber Hochschule für Musik Dresden and also studied the Master of Music Jazz Improvising Artist at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. His most influencing teachers were Till Brönner, Malte Burba and the American jazz trumpet player Ryan Carniaux.

His first album Decidophobia was released in 2018 with Double Moon / Challenge Records International. His second album Fraction featuring Seamus Blake was released two years later in May 2020 with Challenge Records International. With his own quartet, Krahl plays numerous concerts in all important jazz clubs all over Germany as well as at festivals such as International Jazz Week Burghausen, JazzBaltica, Hildener Jazztage, Trave-Jazz Festival, Jazzfest Bingen or Birdland Radio Jazz Festival. His third album In-Between Flow was released in September 2022 and features world famous guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. Besides working as a band leader Krahl is a steady part of the Cologne based Subway Jazz Orchestra. With this big band he recorded five albums: Primal Scream (2015), State of Mind (2016), Richbeck Suite (2018), Still Screaming (2020) and You are the Universe (2023). Krahl joined the WDR Big Band as a guest musician in productions and concerts. Furthermore, he won the HI Five Music Award in 2023 and is a three-time scholarship winner of the Werner Richard - Dr. Carl Dörken Stiftung – most recently with his quartet.

Concerts brought him to Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Canada, Croatia, Lithuania, Serbia, Senegal, and the US. Traveling the world allowed him to work with musicians like John Clayton, Kurt Elling, Maria Schneider, Benny Green, Jeff Hamilton, Ingrid Jensen, John Ruocco, and Jiggs Whigham.

Furthermore, Maik Krahl teaches jazz trumpeters as well as ensembles and leads the department of brass instruments at Offene Jazz Haus Schule in Cologne.


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Peter Gall (drums)

Composer(s)

Maik Krahl (trumpet)

Maik Krahl represents his generation’s current top of the German jazz trumpeter. His musical statements enrich me and let me look forward into a future of a whole genre, which will always exist. Big compliment! - Till Brönner Maik Krahl completed his jazz studies at Carl Maria von Weber Hochschule für Musik Dresden and also studied the Master of Music Jazz Improvising Artist at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. His most influencing teachers were Till Brönner, Malte Burba and the American jazz trumpet player Ryan Carniaux. His first album Decidophobia was released in 2018 with Double Moon / Challenge Records International. His second album Fraction featuring Seamus Blake was released two years later in May 2020 with Challenge Records International. With his own quartet, Krahl plays...
more

Maik Krahl represents his generation’s current top of the German jazz trumpeter. His musical statements enrich me and let me look forward into a future of a whole genre, which will always exist. Big compliment! - Till Brönner

Maik Krahl completed his jazz studies at Carl Maria von Weber Hochschule für Musik Dresden and also studied the Master of Music Jazz Improvising Artist at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. His most influencing teachers were Till Brönner, Malte Burba and the American jazz trumpet player Ryan Carniaux.

His first album Decidophobia was released in 2018 with Double Moon / Challenge Records International. His second album Fraction featuring Seamus Blake was released two years later in May 2020 with Challenge Records International. With his own quartet, Krahl plays numerous concerts in all important jazz clubs all over Germany as well as at festivals such as International Jazz Week Burghausen, JazzBaltica, Hildener Jazztage, Trave-Jazz Festival, Jazzfest Bingen or Birdland Radio Jazz Festival. His third album In-Between Flow was released in September 2022 and features world famous guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. Besides working as a band leader Krahl is a steady part of the Cologne based Subway Jazz Orchestra. With this big band he recorded five albums: Primal Scream (2015), State of Mind (2016), Richbeck Suite (2018), Still Screaming (2020) and You are the Universe (2023). Krahl joined the WDR Big Band as a guest musician in productions and concerts. Furthermore, he won the HI Five Music Award in 2023 and is a three-time scholarship winner of the Werner Richard - Dr. Carl Dörken Stiftung – most recently with his quartet.

Concerts brought him to Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Canada, Croatia, Lithuania, Serbia, Senegal, and the US. Traveling the world allowed him to work with musicians like John Clayton, Kurt Elling, Maria Schneider, Benny Green, Jeff Hamilton, Ingrid Jensen, John Ruocco, and Jiggs Whigham.

Furthermore, Maik Krahl teaches jazz trumpeters as well as ensembles and leads the department of brass instruments at Offene Jazz Haus Schule in Cologne.


less

Press

... Flexible lines that seem to meander effortlessly through the registers are a specialty of Cologne trumpeter and flugelhorn player Maik Krahl...
WDR, 28-11-2024

... From ballads to uptempo, everything a jazz musician's heart desires is offered here in captivating sound: virtuosity without technical overkill, variety, captivating sound...
er-em, 03-11-2024

The trumpeter Maik Krahl presents his fiery new album with a freshly formed quartet, which combines post and bebop idioms with a nostalgic post and bebop idioms with a nostalgic catapulted into the present with a nostalgic note...
Concerto title story, 01-11-2024

... Maik Krahl has a ravishingly gentle and at the same time clear tone, a secure modern understanding of form, and above all, he loves to phrase with an air of understatement...
Jazzthing, 25-10-2024

... Clear, almost shimmering, it plays around Blake's saxophone lines. A tableau full of possibilities, magical, consistent.
Jazzthing, 25-10-2024

... Maik Krahl has a ravishingly gentle and at the same time clear tone, a secure modern understanding of form...
Jazzthing feature, 25-10-2024

... The 12 compositions by the eponymous trumpeter contain almost all the colors that have kept jazz so young and popular...
NaDann, 27-11-2024

... Clear, almost shimmering, it plays around Blake's saxophone lines. A tableau full of possibilities, magical, consistent.
Jazzthing, 25-10-2024

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