Max Frankl

"Old rules, new sound"

This catchy phrase by the magazine "Jazzthing" gets to the heart of what constitutes the philosophy of the young south-german guitarist Max Frankl. In other words, he has one foot firmly rooted in the tradition of the golden age of jazz guitar of the first few post-war decades, while the other foot skips and prances unpredictably, in the best sense of the word: Max Frankl is always ready to surprise you, from one stage of his career to the next.

Milestones

The key stages of his journey most perceptible to the audience are, without any doubt, his records: 2005 the album "Frankzone 1" with Magnus Schriefl (tp/flh), Andrea Hermenau (p), Benny Schäfer (b) and Peter Gall (dr) and, appearing as a guest in five pieces, his former teacher and mentor Johannes Enders (sax). The album "Sturmvogel" with the participation of Ulrich Wangenheim (ts/ss/b-cl), Christian Elsässer (p), Andreas Kurz (b) and Andy Haberl (dr), recorded in 2006 and released in 2008, has been exceptionally successful right from the beginning. Coming soon is the album "Stories" by the trio with Max von Mosch (sax) and Henning Sieverts (b/vcl) and, after that, new ventures by the quartet can be expected.
What listening to all these records leaves you with is the realisation that on every new album nothing stays the same as on the previous one; that, in fact, pretty much everything is different from the previous one. The reason for this is simple: the artistic maturation of this guitarist, which is happening at almost breathtaking speed. Anyhow, "Stories" is going to be a rather modest, almost chamber music-like celebration, where "in fact, all three musicians are band leaders", as Max points out. We will hear powerful hard- or neo-bop elements again at a later time from the quartet.

Places, Names, Stages I

Born in Starnberg in 1982, Max goes to grammar school in Weilheim, where the school's own Big Band leaves such an impression on the boy that he wants to learn how to play the drums. However, he is discouraged to do so, decides to play the guitar instead and is given lessons in classical guitar. The old hard rock idols like Guns'n'Roses and Nirvana are still echoing in his ears, while, at the same time, he can't stop thinking about the Big Band. And it's not long before he's in it, becomes a fan of Peter Herbolzheimer`s "Rhythm combination and brass" and discovers Pat Metheny and the "old masters" of the jazz guitar such as Tal Farlow, Herb Ellis and co. He is 17 when he switches completely to Jazz and is about to finish school when he and his band win the Bavarian and in 2003 the national competition of the "Jugend Jazzt" festival- and with that award win the privilege of producing a CD. Still in the same year, he is admitted to the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and taught by Martijn van Iterson until 2004 ("my bebop school"). In 2005, "Frankzone 1" comes out, while he is still studying, first in Basel with Wolfgang Muthspiel and later, in 2006/2007, in Lucerne with Kurt Rosenwinkel. It is at this time that he becomes a member of Germany's Youth Jazz Orchestra, the BuJazzO, which is conducted at the time by Peter Herbolzheimer. And thus he manages to gain Peter O'Mara and Frank Haunschild as teachers and also takes classes with Frank Möbus in Lucerne. In 2008, the album "Sturmvogel", which has been produced in cooperation with Muthspiel, is released. He takes private lessons with Jesse van Ruller and continues his studies at the Lucerne School of Music, where he is taught by non-guitarists such as the Swiss saxophonist Nat Su or his fellow countryman and pianist Jean-Paul Brodbeck. In 2009, he graduates in Performance and Music Pedagogy; summa cum laude in both subjects, of course.

Places, Names and Stages II - Open End

Max performs at numerous events, including the jazz festivals in Prague, Berne, Munich, Odessa and Föhr. In summer 2009, Max makes his debut at Germany's most prestigious jazz festival "Jazz Baltica". He is then selected to represent Germany in the European Jazz Orchestra, which is conducted by P. Herbolzheimer and with which Max goes on a three-week European tour.
Moreover, he signes endorsement contracts with the renowned companies Framus (guitars) and Vovox (cables). An extensive portrait of Max is published in the US specialist magazine "Just Jazz Guitar".
And last but not least, he has been a sideman for a very respectable list of musicians, including Bruno de Filippi, Emil Mangelsdorff and Lee Konitz as well as Adrian Mears, Nils Wogram, Thomas Stabenow, Henning Sieverts, Franco Ambrosetti, Florian Ross and many more...

by Alexander Schmitz (writes for "JustJazzGuitar"-Magazine (US) and many more)