Jan Prax
Jan Prax (born February 19, 1992 in Karlsruhe ) is a German jazz musician ( alto and soprano saxophone , composition ).
Live and act
Prax began his musical training on the piano at the age of three; he has received numerous prizes as a classical pianist. In his youth his interest in jazz and the saxophone grew. With a highly gifted scholarship from the Baden Conservatory, he studied with Laszlo Wolpert and Peter Lehel . He obtained his bachelor's degree with distinction from Klaus Graf at the University of Music in Nuremberg , before starting a master’s degree in Munich, which he completed in 2018. In 2013 Prax performed at the Stuttgart Jazz Open and at the Leverkusener Jazz Days ; he toured the US and Africa. His debut album Keepin 'a Style Alive was released in 2015. Since 2016 he has also been a member of Riccardo Del Fra’s quintet , with whom he appeared across Europe and can be heard on his album Moving People (2018).
Prax has worked with musicians like David Sanborn , Randy Brecker , Gene Lake , Kurt Rosenwinkel , Klaus Doldinger , Chris Coleman , Alex Blake , Peter Less , Nicky Moroch, Judy Niemack , Bobby Sanabria , Geoffroy de Masure , Dré Pallemaerts , Olaf Polziehn , Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr and the Sunday Night Orchestra .
Prizes and awards
In 2012, Prax and his quartet won the Leverkusener Jazztage Future Prize. He also received a scholarship from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. The Jan Prax Quartet also won the Stuttgart Jazz Open-Playground as well as the nationwide Jazz Festival Leipzig. In 2014 he received the Sparda Jazz Award and won the Czech Jazz Competition in Prague with the quartet. His debut album was nominated for the German Record Critics' Prize and included in the TOP 20 - Best Jazz Albums of 2015 by UK Vibe Magazine . In 2015, his quartet was awarded third prize at the Made in New York Jazz Competition .
Discographic notes
- Pawel Czubatka Band: Drums and Dreams (Label 11; 2014, with Kim Barth, Stephan Gembler, Michael Harnoß, Paulo Morello , Agnes Lepp , Filip Wisniewski, Toni Hinterholzinger)
- Jan Prax Quartet: Keepin 'a Style Alive ( Act ; 2015)
- Jan Prax Quartet: Ascending (Challenge; 2018, with Martin Sörös , Tilman Oberbeck , Michael Mischl and Soweto Kinch , Bodek Janke )
- Riccardo Del Fra: Moving People (Cristal; 2018, with Kurt Rosenwinkel , Tomasz Dabrowski , Carl-Henri Morisset , Rémi Fox, Jason Brown)
Web links
- Web presence
- Jan Prax at Allmusic (English)
- January Prax at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Prax, Jan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German jazz musician (saxophone, composition) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 19th February 1992 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Karlsruhe |