CAUGHT IN A RUG
 

Stephan Stadtfeld is a classically trained trumpeter and plays in Berlin’s Konzerthaus Orchestra.

From an early age however, he has always held a fascination for jazz, big band and funk, away from his work in the orchestra.

Stephan discovered a new form of expression when he began writing his own music some years ago; studying jazz composition and arrangement as part of a Master’s degree enabled him to blend his different stylistic backgrounds into something completely new.

The highly personal sound language that has resulted can be heard on his debut album "Caught in a Rug" by the newly founded Stephan Stadtfeld Large Ensemble.

The 15-piece troupe is a kind of reduced big band (3 trumpets, 3 trombones, piano, bass, drums), which is expanded to include a string sextet.

In this unusual line-up, some of Berlin’s most interesting and sought-after jazz musicians meet their counterparts from the city’s classical orchestral scene.

The resulting sound crackles with energy and is by turns overwhelming, huge, introverted and fragile.

Smaller formations emerge from the ensemble, creating a wide variety of more intimate music moments and colours. Between the through-composed passages, spaces open up in which individual improvised solos give the music additional dimension and depth.

The principle of tonal and stylistic diversity underpins each musical encounter throughout the album, making the music difficult to categorize. This diversity, however, reflects the wide range of personal experiences and feelings that have gone into shaping Stephan’s music and can in essence be seen as the search for an authentic musical language and truthfulness.

CAUGHT IN A RUG OUT NOW ON ALL DIGITAL PLATFORMS!

STEPHAN STADTFELD

▶ STREAM THE ALBUM HERE!