Cole Chandler - a real voice
A “real” voice? Big words, but Cole Chandler (born 1972) is actually one of those extremely rare singers in jazz who first give the song a stage and only then its interpreter.
The musical home of the SummerJazz award winner, who lives in the Steinburg district in Northern Germany and has family connections to Great Britain and the United States, is the Great American Songbook. Here each song wants to be told in its own unique way, bringing the drama or idyll to life for the listener. Cole Chandler is passionate about this art.
Originally a clarinetist and saxophonist, his colleagues suddenly decided that he would also be a singer in his first jazz band - and he quickly took a liking to this task...
Through singing lessons, harmony theory, coaching and workshops with renowned educators and lecturers in the fields of classical music and jazz he then acquired over many years the craftsmanship needed to impress on stage as a vocalist.
He has now finally put the clarinet and saxophone back in the case and is concentrating exclusively on his voice with ever-increasing success.
Whether as a jazz singer, chansonnier or reader: Cole Chandler and his warm baritone are convincing!
(Photo: Margarete Olschowka)
The Rainer Schnelle Trio
RAINER SCHNELLE - Piano
Photo: Schnelle
He is one of the most renowned German jazz pianists of today. He studied in the United States at Berklee College of Music, among others, and has been a lecturer at the University of Music and Theater in Hamburg for many decades. He can also be seen regularly on stage. His work took him together with artists such as legendary jazz diva Eartha Kitt, whom he accompanied as musical director on their international tours, or Ulrich Tukur, Evelyn Künneke, Bill Ramsey, Herb Geller, german vibraphonist Wolfgang Schlüter, Inga Rumpf, Taj Mahal and Eberhard Weber.
Rainer's website can be found here .
MARTIN THISSEN - Drums
Photo: Private
He studied classical percussion at the Cologne University of Music.
Whether on the drum set, vibraphone, or classically on the timpani or as a percussionist: his busy concert activity with a wide variety of ensembles took him to stages at home and abroad, including Belgium, China, France, Poland, the Netherlands and Switzerland. He also composed stage music.
He has been an integral part of the Rainer Schnelle Trio since 2022.
GEROLD DONKER - bass
Photo: Private
He has traveled a lot as a jazz and theater musician and university lecturer, appeared on radio and television and worked with renowned musicians such as Gitte Haenning, Ulita Knaus, Silvia Droste, Inga Rumpf, Herb Geller, Harry Allen, Ron Williams and Bill Ramsey together. CD releases by, among others, Uwe Granitza, Ulita Knaus and, last but not least, half a dozen of albums by guitarist Jörg Seidel are based on his sensitive work on the bass.
To the great delight of the Rainer Schnelle Trio, he dropped anchor in Hamburg a few years ago and will be performing regularly with this small, fine band in the future.
An elegant band!
Photo: Sabine Fock
When the pieces in their repertoire were created, men never went out on the streets in their shirtsleeves. For Cole Chandler and his colleagues, a tie, suit and polished shoes are not a disguise, but a natural and deeply felt need in view of the elegant musical creations from a golden age of entertainment that they give new life on stage - and of course also a visible sign of the Adoration for their audience...