The colleagues that Bastian Stein has gathered around him come from different parts of the globe, but musically they are a good fit. Pianist Pablo Held was born in 1986 in North Rhine-Westphalia. He is strongly represented on Pirouet by the award-winning trio CD Music and the large ensemble recording Glow, which was lauded by the critics and the press. Stein first met Held at a workshop some ten years ago when Held was a young student. Stein once again became aware of Held through the pianist’s trio. Stein states that Pablo Held “brings the right amount of demanding abilities into the band. At the same time he is totally supportive.” Born in 1981 in Tirol, Matthias Pichler is Stein’s Austrian compatriot. He and Stein have often played together; “Matthias has great ears, and he tries to round out the moment.” Tobias Backhaus was born in 1984 in Darmstadt, Germany. Stein met him when he was on tour three years ago. Stein says, “For me, the best drummers are those that you don’t really notice at first, but on the second listening you realize that they have everything under control. That’s Tobias!”

Everyone in the quartet is interested in the overall sound, not some individual momentary glitter, but rather something the listener can immediately sense. These musicians develop a completely organic connection. Bastian Stein brings an elastic sense of storytelling into play: “When someone’s playing is totally awesome, but isn’t communicating, then the players who are accompanying him are imprisoned.” That is something no one in this quartet wants. They all want to be able to move freely and give each other the opportunity to play. Or, in the sense of Diegesis, they want to give free rein to their imagination with respect to the “narration”.

Bastian Stein — to borrow from his own metaphor — has not taken on any prisoners; instead, he has found musicians to converse with. Here are instrumental conversations in which each listener can project his or her own story. These are appealing, stimulating tales for the listener who enjoys captivating music and at the same time likes to keep a clear head.