Coco Schumann Rememberence l Concert

Berlin-born Coco Schumann played in jazz bands as a teenager. The Nazi takeover changed everything. He played under a false tax identity in Berlin until 1943, but was deported to Theresienstadt in 1943. This was followed by the Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps. He played in various music groups in the camps, which mainly served to entertain the guards.


And: in Auschwitz he had to play with other musicians on the death ramp. After his liberation, he immediately returned to Berlin. The music stayed - and he played swing again. He wrote all this down in his autobiography. He famously said: "I am a musician who served time in a concentration camp. Not a concentration camp prisoner who makes music!".


In addition to original arrangements of Coco's favorite swing tunes, some of his own compositions will also be played. Saxophonist Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Böhm, himself a legend of the Berlin jazz scene, will also make the evening entertaining with stories and anecdotes from Coco Schumann's musical life.

He will be supported by Uli Hoffmeier, guitarist with Max Raabe's Palastorchester for over 25 years, and the sensitive bassist Robin Draganic from Canada.