His work has been honored with multiple gold and platinum awards, including the 2005 Amadeus Award for Best National Pop Production as the producer of Persönlich by Georg Danzer (together with Dieter Kolbeck). Musically, Maass moves across a wide spectrum—from jazz productions like Colin Towns’ Mask Orchestra (UK) and the NDR Big Band to Austrian pop icons such as Rainhard Fendrich, pop acts like Mousse T., and electronic projects such as Kruder & Dorfmeister. His unique style in world music has also led to collaborations with Michael Shrieve on the album Drums of Compassion (featuring Airto, Zakir Hussain, Jack DeJohnette, and more).
Maass has gained international recognition through his work with Grammy-winning producers and award-winning film composers. As a producer, he has worked for major labels such as Universal and Sony BMG. Additionally, he is a sought-after percussionist at drum clinics and festivals, including Superdrumming (2003, 2008, 2013), the Meinl Drum Festival (2006, 2008), and the Meinl Percussion Festival (2018), where he performed alongside Benny Greb, Ralf Gustke, and Jojo Mayer. Leading industry magazines like drums&percussion, sticks, and idrummag have featured extensive interviews with him.
Since 2007, Maass has held the position of Professor of Jazz Percussion at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz, offering workshops and masterclasses worldwide. Touring regularly since the early 1990s, he has performed across the globe. Under his maassmusic label, he develops musical and percussive concepts for theater, dance productions, and film scores, collaborating with renowned artists such as Terry Hands, former director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His compositions have also been used in film productions by Universum Film, Formula 1, and Red Bull Media House.
From 2015 to 2024, Maass served on the advisory board for Austria’s national Podium jazz.pop.rock… competition as part of Musik der Jugend. Since December 2021, he has been the president of Percussion Creativ e.V., the largest German-speaking community for drummers and percussionists in Europe. In 2024, he was voted among the Top 5 in the World Percussion category by readers of the prestigious U.S. magazine Modern Drummer.
Wir Beaten Mehr Band (Xavier Naidoo, Jan Delay, Cassandra Steen, Max Herre, Joy Denalane, Sido, Kool Savas, Adel Tawil) NDR Bigband Blue Touch Paper Vienna Scientists Nils Landgren Geir Lysne Roisin Murphy Harold Faltermeyer Thomas D. Konstantin Wecker Harald Juhnke Udo Jürgens Gloria Gaynor
- thank god - a master musician.
