Alex Jaxx is a young saxophonist from Iași who has recently released two live albums inspired by the music of Richard Oschanitzky and Charlie Parker, respectively. We will be discussing these releases, as well as other aspects of his career, with Alex Jaxx himself, who is now here with us at Radio România Muzical. Welcome.

Thank you for having me. I'm very glad to be here.

Let's start with the two albums released in recent years, the most recent one having come out this January. What can you tell us about them?

We are also very happy that we finally managed to release these two albums. They are Live at the Romanian National Opera Iași, an album recorded live in concert-if I'm not mistaken, the concert took place in 2022 at the Opera in Iași and the album Richard Oschanitzky - Revedere '85. This album was also recorded live on stage, as part of the Romanian Music Festival in 2024, and was released in 2025.

Let's say that you are leading rather unconventional ensembles. The album dedicated to Richard Oschanitzky features a septet and a string quartet, while the other brings together a jazz quartet and a string quartet. How did you conceive these arrangements? I'm referring first and foremost to those based on Richard Oschanitzky's music.

I can say that everything began during my doctoral studies, when I received the scores of the Charlie Parker with Strings arrangements-some very famous and truly beautiful arrangements. That was when my passion for this instrumental format-jazz quartet plus strings-was born. Later on, in the context of that first project at the Opera, I thought, why not include the string quartet as well, since it fits so naturally within that setting. Then, in the summer of 2024, I received a very interesting challenge from Professor Alex Vasiliu to organize a jazz concert dedicated to the celebrated pianist Richard Oschanitzky. At that point, we also thought about the fact that Oschanitzky's music often features string orchestra, and we felt that this format would suit it perfectly. So my brother Cătălin and I divided the material between us, got to work, and created several arrangements for strings and jazz septet.

Cătălin Huțanu is a pianist, and you work together. In the septet version, you also include guitar and trombone, among other instruments.

It's an interesting lineup. We wanted to include wind instruments as well, since Richard Oschanitzky's music is full of wind sections. So we had Robert Cozma on trombone, Ștefan Stanciu on trumpet, Eugen Toboș on guitar, Cătălin on piano, Lucian Rusu on drums, and Daniel Leancă on bass.

Tell us a little about the scene in Iași. Information sometimes reaches Bucharest more slowly, but from what I can see, there's quite an interesting activity there, and certainly much of the credit goes to Mr. Alex Vasiliu and Mr. Romeo Cozma, who have been dedicated to jazz there for decades.

Absolutely. The very beginning of our careers is thanks to the jazz club that actually bears Richard Oschanitzky's name, which was run by Professor Romeo Cozma. Yes, a real community formed there, which is the most important thing-together with all kinds of musicians and students from the Conservatory, and even students from the arts high school. We're glad that we can organize events and that things are really moving forward in Iași. People are becoming increasingly receptive to jazz, and we try to hold events whenever we get the chance. We actually had a series of concerts-around 15 shows in a jazz club in our city-which culminated with International Jazz Day, featuring Luiza Zan and the American saxophonist Rick Condit. It was something extraordinarily beautiful, and we are continuing to prepare more events.

What can you reveal to us? I understand that a studio album is coming up for the first time.

Yes, it's an album I've been working on for some time. It's about 80% finished-almost fully recorded, with just a few things left to track. It's a more crossover jazz album, I'd say, with rhythms from funk, blues, R&B, soul, and several other styles. What's interesting is that we'll have some very well-known international guest artists. I can't reveal their names just yet, but there will be some very exciting surprises.