Maik Krahl Quartett

Maik Krahl The Magic of Consistency

There are quite a few musicians of his profile, including those who can technically act on the top level with the trumpet. But the uniqueness of Maik Krahl lies in the fact that he never rests on his laurels, but sees every album, every new line-up as a challenge, as a welcome opportunity to climb the next level on his already imposing career ladder.

If you compare The Magic of Consistency with its 2022 predecessor In-Between Flow, you will quickly realize that the 33-year-old’s magic of consistency lies in his desire to deliver first-class compositions, top line-ups and outstanding musical performances everywhere and at all times. Because in his reading, the English word “consistency” also means “staying there”. This, according to Krahl, is generally important – in music as well as in life.

Sometimes, however, it is also useful to simply leave something for a certain time – a maturation process. “This is also part of the consistency,” Krahl says. So is the balancing act between consistency and flexibility the great secret of a fulfilled life, not just as a musician? The Magic of Consistency provides the answer in an impressive way. Of course, all compositions are once again by the bandleader himself. They are pieces that breathe the spirit of the great days of jazz, without looking back in a single millisecond, stale, nostalgic or possibly copying.

The quartet as a reduced cast format and the pieces offer the instrumentalists all the possibilities to develop their abilities in all their glory.

Krahl says that it is by no means in contrast to his leitmotif “consistency” to always operate flexibly with ideas. This means not to regard a sonic aesthetic that once caused a sensation, such as the openly swinging soundscape of the quartet of Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker, as dogma, but to adapt it to one’s own needs, as happens in Le Pin Sec.

The music of the trumpeter born in Bautzen and now living in Cologne models a variable sculpture of dark and bright emotions: thoughtfulness (Roofless / A Topless Structure in the Middle of Nowhere), determination (The Magic of Consistency), quiet happiness (Dance for Lovely Sleepy Humans), tangible impatience (as in the nervous, Bebop-like Colorado Adventure), curiosity (Wolf and Dog / Friendly Encounter), packing (Waiting for the Third Minute) or just waiting (Tragedy of Being in Time).

What is striking live in the ears is the audible desire and mobility of the instrumentalists involved to follow Maik Krahl as primus inter pares on his exciting musical path. And the trumpeter, who was taught during his studies in Dresden and Essen by such high-profile teachers as Till Brönner, Malte Burba and Ryan Carniaux, was considered years ago.

as a small attraction in the Republic, so this time he saddled a bit again. It is no longer only the ballads that underline Krahl’s championship, but now also breathtaking uptempo numbers, in which he elevates the ride on the knife cutting edge to the virtuosic supreme discipline and forces his colleagues charmingly, but unmistakably, to catch up with him.

You don’t necessarily have to listen analytically, but only feel your concerts as a whole. Then you will be amazed to find out once again at the end that Maik Krahl and his companions have not played a single boring piece or any inconsequential tone. The magic of it is that this incredible level has now become an essential part of his consistency.

• Maik Krahl — Trumpet
• Constantin Krahmer — Piano
• Jakob Kühnemann - Bass
• Fabian Rösch - Drums