The city witnessed one of the year's landmark celebrations with the 50th anniversary of the Goethe-Institut in India. As a tribute to the Golden Jubilee celebrations, some of Berlin's finest jazz musicians delivered a night to remember.
An impressive line-up of mucisians, the ten-member band called Thaerichen's Tentet bore their instruments like knights in armour and brought alive some phenomenal jazz numbers.
Thaerichen's Tentet comprised Nicolai Thärichen on the piano, Michael Schiefel on the vocals, Andreas Spannagel playing the alto flute and tenor saxophone, Sven Klammer playing the trumpet and flugelhorn, Sören Fischer on the trombone, Jan von Klewitz on the alto saxophone and clarinet, Nikolaus Leistle playing the baritone saxophone and bass clarinet, Kai Brückner picking the guitar, Johannes Gunkel plucking the double bass and bass guitar and Kai Schönburg beating the drums.
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The tentet performed voracious compositions and inventive musical arrangements mostly based on poems written by renowned poets from around the world such as Dorothy Parker, Byron and Thomas Hardy among others.
Kicking off their performance with a rock and roll explosion of “Upto my neck in you” by Australian rock band AC/DC, the ensemble went on to execute a rapturous musical piece titled “The last day of my youth.”
The musicians tossed in Parker's “On being a woman” next. Michael Schiefel's eccentric voice and style mesmerised listeners as he effortlessly struck notes way up the tenor scale along with some unconventional air guitaring. The musicians accompanied him with flamboyance.
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An anecdotal ballad on love's happy strung tunes titled “This time” penned by a Berlin poet followed. The piano's melodic notes accompanied by the brass instruments played romantically in tune to the floating notes of the flute transporting the listeners to another musical dimension.
The artistes went to deliver some exhilarating numbers, each instrumentalist playing solo pieces to near perfection.
A song dedicated to Scottish psychiatrist Ronald D. Laing's work on schizophrenia started with a drum solo which was maniacal as the title itself. With each piece, the instruments transcended into sophisticated solos.
Blending a rich flavour of modern German tones the band played some of the latest compositions namely, “Keep it to yourself”, “Tell me you love me still” and “I can see it in your eyes” among others. With a comic touch in every song, the ten men struck an array of chords and progressions all composed by Nicolai. From melodic tunes to orchestral ballads, the contemporary entertainers scored mature and nevertheless freaky music enthralling the awed crowd in the packed auditorium.
Founded by German pianist, composer and arranger Nicolai Thärichen with the singer Michael Schiefel in 1999, Thaerichen's Tentet has been making huge waves in the jazz field. Lauded world over for their felicitous compositions, polished arrangements and the humorous presentations, the band has released four albums so far.
On a parting note, the ensemble rendered a vocal encore with “Sea horses and flying fish.” Making the most hilarious sounds they left the audience enthralled by their eclectic performance.
Groovy, funky, volatile and stimulatingly dramatical; the ten adrenaline pumping men left an impregnable mark on the quinquagenarian occasion.