Reza Askari was born in Fulda, Germany, in 1986 to an Iranian father who had immigrated to Germany and a German mother. He began playing the piano at the age of five. At eleven, he discovered the electric bass and started his musical career early on, playing in local punk and jazz bands. After graduating from high school, Askari began studying music in 2006, majoring in electric bass at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Marius Goldhammer, and later also studying double bass with Dieter Manderscheid and Sebastian Gramss. He graduated from the Cologne University of Music in 2012 with distinction. He subsequently continued his studies in the Master of Improvising Arts program at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen with Robert Landfermann, graduating in 2014 with “Summa cum laude.”

From 2007 to 2010, Askari was a member of the Landesjugendjazzorchester Hessen, and from 2010 to 2011 he performed with the Bundesjazzorchester and the European Masterclass Big Band under the direction of John Ruocco.

Askari has performed at festivals and clubs with artists including Marc Ducret, Lee Konitz, Benny Golson, Hayden Chisholm, Jeff Hamilton, Barre Phillips, Mark Dresser, Peter Herbolzheimer, Mike Herting, Philippe Catherine, Ramesh Shotham, Frank Haunschild, Thomas Rückert, Frank Gratkowski, Heiner Wiberny, Gerd Dudek, John Hollenbeck, Jiggs Whigham, Gary Versace, Max Herre, Clueso, Sophie Hunger, Max Mutzke, Götz Alsmann, Wolf Biermann, and Carolin Kebekus. He has toured countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the United States, Canada, Colombia, Panama, and numerous European countries with various ensembles.

With his trio “ROAR,” featuring Stefan Karl Schmid, Fabian Arends, and Askari, he released two albums as a bandleader in 2017 and 2020. His third album, “Roar feat. Christopher Dell,” was released in June 2022. In 2024, the album “Zen World Cables” followed.

In 2026, Askari recorded the album “xAYb v8v dYAx” with his ROAR Quintet at the Kammermusiksaal of Deutschlandfunk in Cologne. The album was released on the Austrian label Boomslang Records.