[Dixielandjazz] Thomas Quasthoff

[ROBERT R. CALDER]

Thomas Quasthoff is a knowledgeable jazz fan of long standing, and presumably it was his dream to do something in jazz.  One of the scandals which will never detach itself from his native city's music academy is that it refused him a place as a student, because an ability to play piano was obligatory.  Quasthoff's mother was prescribed thalidomide when she was pregnant with him, and he was born without arms.  
The best performances from an opera singer I ever heard of not quite jazz but at least Kern and company tunes were from Norman Bailey, now I believe retired to USA.  Like a lot of other things he sang incomparably, he didn't record these performances, just turned up singing them on TV.  Perhaps other people tried too hard.  

       
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