Cole Chandler + Rainer Schnelle: That's Jazz? - Jazz Concert

Europe gave us classical music, America gave us jazz. In the first half of the 20th century, both traditions merged to create a wealth of popular songs - catchy and elegant at once. Composers like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin laid the foundation for the Great American Songbook, which became the repertoire of singers like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Mel Tormé. Then came the "Swinging Sixties" and turned the musical world upside down - and pop composers inspired jazz from the very beginning. Are the Beatles jazz?

Cole Chandler, a crooner of the old school and sonorous baritone, and pianist and bandleader Rainer Schnelle, a representative of the more modern jazz tradition, have devoted themselves to this music. Their program "That's Jazz?" thrives on the meeting of their very different styles: seemingly old pieces gain a surprising relevance.

Following their joint debut album "Let's Do It" (2021), they have now released "Keep The Music Playing", which premiered in October 2024 at a sold-out concert at Theater Itzehoe.

"A voice like Sinatra" (Kieler Nachrichten) - "He sounds like Chicago" (Norddeutscher Rundfunk/Fernsehen - Hamburg Journal) - "After the intermission, the musicians surprised the audience with Beatles pieces: 'Can't Buy Me Love', 'Something', and 'Eleanor Rigby' were performed as if they had been written for this group." (SHZ - Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag)