[Dixielandjazz] Max Raabe interviewed - Philadelphia Inquirer

[Robert Ringwald]

Max Raabe's Cabaret Coming to Merriam
by A.D. Amorosi
Philadelphia Inquirer, February 28, 2012
Max Raabe is having a most thrilling week.
The dapper gentleman responsible for bringing the sounds of German cabaret, dance,
and film music of the 1920s and 1930s to stages the world over just played his first
show in Dallas.
"Growing up in Germany, the only picture I have of this city was through '80s American
television shows such as 'Dallas' and 'Dynasty,'" he says with a laugh. Days before
the Texas gig, Raabe and his stalwart Palast Orchester played in Los Angeles, where
they were greeted backstage by Mel Brooks, the legendary film director whose 1968
comedy classic "The Producers" featured the outrageously offensive German-themed
tune "Springtime for Hitler."
"To have Mr. Mel Brooks at our show was such an honor," says Raabe. "So exciting.
The first thing he told me was how he had all of our albums and how much he loved
our music."
Brooks is not the only one.
Raabe, 49, has been making albums for more than 20 years. His "Heute Nacht Oder Nie:
Live in New York" DVD/CD of 2008 made him an overnight sensation in the United States
after repeated broadcasts on PBS. Backed by an orchestra that raced and rumbled,
and singing like a sturdier Fred Astaire, Raabe coursed through American cinema standards
such as "Cheek to Cheek" and "Singin' in the Rain" with bravura. He did tipsy ballads
like "These Foolish Things" and silly songs like "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"
too. In white tie, tails, and slicked hair, Raabe even looked the Astaire part.
Most potently, though, Raabe and the Palast Orchester essayed the German pop music
(hits known as Schlagermusik) of the '20s and '30s with golden, authentic arrangements,
both film and cabaret classics such as those penned by Kurt Weill, and soft chansons.
The singer is unsurprised to find adoration for music so curiously reminiscent of
another time and place. He says it's part of our cultural DNA.
"On both sides of the Atlantic, people are familiar with this music, whether they
realize it or not," Raabe says. "For younger generations, they have a feeling for
this sound from cartoons they grew up with, like Tom and Jerry or Porky Pig, where
the music is fast and funny with lots of saxophones and trombones. The black-and-white
movies of Fred Astaire and Hollywood musicals still air. There's not a lot of explaining
to do. People have a feeling for this time, these images, and its sounds."
It's neither satire, camp, nor a copycat routine for Raabe. And although his orchestra
uses authentic arrangements of the era, it's not a retro show. Instead, his cutaway
tux and tonsorial splendor mark the uniform of 20th-century sophistication. When
a question arises about the sincerity of his style, he bristles a bit: "It is a not
a costume festival on stage," he says. "This is my character. The tuxedo and the
haircut is mine. We could go to any Oscar party. The dress is not so important."
Raabe didn't start his musical career doing the old music. Raabe studied opera (he
was a baritone) at Berlin University of the Arts and put together his orchestra with
school friends because they loved the music and needed to finance their studies.
"It was so well-received," he says, "that I told the band it would be stupid to stop.
It's a gift that we can travel around playing the music we love."
That music is meant to be popular, not exclusive, with vocals influenced by the Comedian
Harmonists (the all-guy close harmony group that was an international sensation in
the late 1920s and early 1930s) and music influenced by the jumping big bands of
Paul Whiteman and German composers such as Weill, whose music was not limited to
theater but extended to dance-band arrangements and 5 o'clock teas in hotels across
Germany. "Weill and the like wanted to make their music popular," Raabe says.
While no Weill will be part of his current repertoire, new arrangements ("I mean
old arrangements") of songs from Cole Porter will be part of the program, which is
equal parts tunes in English and in German. They'll also play a few tunes from his
recent album, "Kussen Kann Man Nicht Alleine" -- which translates as "One Cannot
Kiss Alone."
Raabe also pens his own songs, with German new-wave sensation Annette Humpe, displaying
a surprising side of his aesthetic. He once was a fan of German electronic icons
Kraftwerk ("the band that does 'fun-fun-fun on the Autobahn' "), and his new album
strikes a cool, synthetic distance. It's an experiment, he says, a game that asks
how a composer from the '20s and '30s might do music today. He laughingly calls his
creation "a pop character, modern, but with the attitude of the past."
Ask him who he is deep down, and Raabe continues to chuckle. "I can speak about the
music, but it is difficult -- and dangerous -- to talk about myself. I don't take
myself too seriously. Less is more. I'm here for the music, to make each note and
make each word clear." That's why the music of the '20s and '30s is such a brilliant
disguise for him: He doesn't have to explain it. "The old songs work elegantly on
their own accord," he says. "It's not important who I am. Just know that I'm burning
for the music. That is my job."


--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
530/ 642-9551 Office
916/ 806-9551 Cell
Amateur (Ham) Radio K6YBV

"History is just one damn thing after another!"  -Anonymous