The mood is good in the master mix studio just outside of Munich. Chris Boettcher has brought white sausages and pretzels with him, lots of them, since there’s a whole big band to be fed from time to time. It’s already the third day of the session anyway, so you’ve already grooved in. They are currently working on a song about puberty, for which Boettcher is still looking for another twist: “It’s still a bit too cheesy for me.” What is recorded is nothing less than a new chapter in Chris Boettcher’s career, one that he himself considers a “real musical advancement” and a “great hit”. “Not without my big band” is the name of the 58-year-old’s latest coup: a song program with a jazz orchestra that will be performed on August 3 at the “Summer Proms” in Munich Brunnenhof celebrates its stage premiere at the Munich Residenz and will of course also be released as an album.
As a crooner in the footsteps of Frank Sinatra, Chris Boettcher breaks new ground. So far, most people know him as a radio and television comedian. In particular, his footballer parodies such as “Lothar & Franz” or “Chris Boettcher’s incredible football task force” have been part of Bayern 3’s inventory for more than 20 years. His face is familiar to many from the ARD long-running hit “Understand You Fun”. , where he often played the decoy. But the particular specialty of the native of Ingolstadt, whose father was already known as the “singing master brewer”, are humorous music skits and pieces. He even had a Oktoberfest hit in 2009 with “10 Meter walk”, a parody of Heidi Klum’s “Germany’s Next Top Model” talent show. Since 2011 he has been packing his mix of parody, music cabaret and stand-up comedy into stage programs (most recently “Immer This Pressure”), so successfully that it has become his main job. He had up to 130 appearances a year – before Corona.
When that was suddenly over, Boettcher, like so many artists after a long time, turned to himself; trying to determine if there were things he didn’t want to continue doing; or if he even has unfulfilled dreams. And while other musicians discovered the small format during the Corona break, i.e. composed and played solo or duo projects, Boettcher began to think big. The starting point was a stay with a few musicians in Till Hofmann’s “Alter Schmiede” in Lower Bavaria. “We cooked spaghetti for five days, drank beer and made music together, Florian Rein from the Banana Fish Bones was there, Rüdiger Eisenhauer and three others,” says Boettcher. “So I played them a song called ‘On the Way’ that I had just written. A rejection of the general whining, in which everyone said as if with one voice: You have to record this with a big band! And Rüdiger said: ‘I know a great arranger, Andreas Unterreiner, he should write an arrangement for you.'” Unterreiner, who is already responsible for BuJazzo or the Jazz rush big band did as ordered, and when Boettcher saw the result, he was “fixated,” as he recalls. “And then my girlfriend said: Keep going, Chris! You’re a comedian, but you love music, that’s your dream.”
The soloist reaches for the big cutlery: Chris Boettcher with his big band in the studio.
(Photo: Christian Teubig)
Until then, Boettcher had not had much to do with big band music, even if he really liked the performances of Michael Bublé and especially Roger Cicero. Of course, the humor in Cicero’s songs suits him well and also served as a model. “The difference is that although Roger sang it brilliantly, the lyrics and compositions weren’t his, while I write everything myself,” as Boettcher explains confidently. His classic big band sound with German lyrics usually has a distinctly Bavarian tongue. And he doesn’t shy away from playing with quotes either: “My advantage is that I can steal all kinds of music styles because I have no musical training at all. I just tried it, and Andreas Unterreiner certifies that I’m a big band write good songs.”
Anyone who has been able to listen to the twelve tracks on the album can confirm this. Be it the title song, which Boettcher wrote first and into which he packed all sorts of big band clichés. Or in the stockbroker song, which in the scale of malicious, cabaret jokes comes close to a Georg Kreisler. Or with the usual cliché “You are a teacher” that only appears at first glance. Or the violently swinging silliness “My hairdresser knows more”. Of course, Boettcher doesn’t just deliver funny or satirical things this time: “During the long lockdown, I also learned to pay more attention to my soul and to write lyrics that aren’t ironic or funny.” The song “Deine Augen” for example, a real “Torch Song”, a lighter ballad in Bavarian.
The brilliant arrangements by Andreas Unterreiner and the quality of the 17 musicians he recruited ensure that his ideas are perfectly orchestrated. The wind sections feature proven big band cracks such as trumpeters Dominik Glöbl, Axel Kühn and Nemanja Jovanovic, trombonists Matthias Götz and Erwin Gregg or saxophonists Ulrich Wangenheim and Florian Riedl. The rhythm group is also on the piano with Josef Reßle (including pianist of the Monika Roscher Big Band), Rüdiger Eisenhauer on guitar, Peter Cudek on bass and Christian Lettner on drums (drummer with Klaus Doldingers for ages passport) a local all-star cast. “If I don’t sing in between, they play even better,” jokes Boettcher, who, by the way, does his job as a lyricist and as a singer so well that it will surprise many, especially the jazz community.
In the meantime, Boettcher has put more work – and money – into this project than in any previous project. The result is definitely something new in the Bavarian music scene. One way or another, Boettcher will of course also remain true to the cabaret: “The comedian is deep in me, and he’s now financing the musicians,” he says with a laugh. Because sometimes it just has to be one size bigger.
Chris Boettcher: “Not without my big band”; live on Wed., August 3rd, 8 p.m., fountain courtyard of the Residenz, Residenzstrasse 1