Chet On The Beach

A stage tribute to Chet Baker

Spring 1988. Chet Baker is expected at the concert hall, the orchestra and big band are ready - but his cream-colored Alfa whispers something else to him: toward the sea. In the shipyard of a small Baltic town, among masts and buoys, he feels better. He catches the attention of a young woman, enjoys their encounter on land and on water. It will be her first jazz concert. Neither of them knows that it will be Baker's last great performance.

"We don't want to tell that same old story about drugs, fights, and decline," says trumpeter Ingolf Burkhardt. "We want above all to celebrate the rise, the triumph of a musical genius - musically and literarily." Author Volker Präkelt places ambivalence at the center - the tension that runs through Baker's entire life: the unpredictability of a fighter paired with a gentle, ethereal side. His "angelic nature" gave jazz a "femininity" that revealed itself especially in his singing. Baker surpassed the greatest jazz trumpeters in critics' polls, discovered the voice as a second instrument - yet repeatedly missed the exit to a settled life.

The multimedia production features Ingolf Burkhardt on trumpet and Ella Burkhardt on vocals; father and daughter interpret Baker's legacy in their own way. Sascha Rotermund takes the title role. Photographs and videos by music photographer Steven Haberland complement the production visually. The evening is carried by jazz classics like My Funny Valentine.

With Ella & Ingolf Burkhardt, Sascha Rotermund and the Chet On The Beach Band
Author and director: Volker Präkelt and Sascha Rotermund