Berlin band finds sound in 20s dance music

Max Raabe & Palast Orchester

Byham… Max Raabe & Palast Orchester

Byham Theater

101 Sixth St.

April 15

Tickets: $38.25-$53.25 at the Theater Square Box Office (655 Penn Ave.) or at pgharts.org

412-456-6666

Rare is the music hall in which you can hear a big band rendition of “Oops!… I Did It Again” played in succession with 1920s classics like “You’re the Cream in My Coffee.”

Fortunately for musical anachronists across Pittsburgh, Max Raabe & Palast Orchester are coming to the Byham Theater on Thursday to deliver their blend of cabaret and dance band jazz. The Palast Orchester combines the upbeat sound of cabaret music — think of the Cantina from Star Wars — with pop music from throughout the 20th century.

Singer Raabe tapped fellow students at the Berlin University of the Arts to assemble his orchestra in 1986. After the group stumbed upon German dance band sheet music from the 1920s, they quickly fell in love with “the most elegant pop music ever,” Raabe said. The orchestra originally played only cabaret and dance band classics, but soon Raabe began writing his own pieces and reinterpreting modern pop songs in the classic style.

Despite its modern flourishes, it would be easy to mistake this group for a dance band from 1920s. Dressed in the style of the Weimar Republic, the men wear classic tuxedos and slicked back hair. The Palast Orchester croons from behind Art Deco music stands, hopping up for shout choruses or solos.

Trained as a baritone opera singer, Raabe employs a wide variety of techniques in his singing. His vocal range swings from the falsetto twang of early records to more nasal notes. He also delivers snarky quips and dramatic pauses in between songs.

Raabe’s comedic delivery is not just a creative touch, but very much a part of the cabaret style that he and his orchestra attempt to revitalize. Leon Dorsey, Pitt’s coordinator of jazz studies, said that comedy is a central part of the history of cabaret and modern theater.

In the late 19th century, whites and blacks in blackface performed in minstrel shows, which blended wisecrack jokes, music and skits with a sizable dose of racism. At the turn of the century, minstrel shows began losing popularity to cabaret shows from Europe. Drawing from this controversial heritage, cabaret and vaudeville performers in the early 1900s worked political and social satire into their acts, meanwhile featuring plenty of scantily clad women to bring in the crowds, Dorsey said.

Deana Larsen, a cabaret enthusiast and choral director for private groups as well as public schools in New Jersey, said that as cabaret quickly became the dominant form of entertainment in America, it grew into an even greater sensation overseas. Cabaret originated as a form of late-night entertainment accompanied by drinking alcohol in France, and soon “spread through Europe like crazy,” Larsen said.

“Cabarets appealed to all pillars of society: Artists were able to show their work, businesses loved it because they made a lot of money from the shows and people loved it because they were gossiping and drinking and seeing the poets and performers,” Larsen said.

This successful form of entertainment, which was a part of the boom in nightlife known as the Roaring 20s, soon met two grave enemies: Nazis and Prohibition, according to Larsen.

Cabaret’s comparatively loose moral standards lent itself to debauchery and political criticism and satire. This threatened Nazi rule and the group’s claims of racial purity, so Germany’s thriving “kabarett” scene was suppressed during Nazi rule, Larsen said. Likewise, Prohibition led to a decrease in the motivation for people to frequent clubs as it became harder to consume alcohol.

But after those trials, the cabaret cultures on both sides of the Atlantic eventually experienced a rebirth into their modern forms. Both Dorsey and Larsen pointed to the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris as one of the purest forms of cabaret that survive today. But both also noted that cabaret has evolved into many other forms — Raabe’s interpretation included.

Late night shows like “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” incorporate music, skits and short stand-up acts much like traditional cabaret, Dorsey noted. Elaborate music videos can combine all these elements — plus a dash of those scantily clad women — to become the most condensed form of cabaret, Dorsey said.

Because the Palast Orchester is booked at more reputable establishments than its cabaret predecessors, Raabe said the group sticks to less risqué entertainment. While band members do participate in skits, Raabe limits his commentary to brief introductions before songs and violinist Cecilia Crisafulli — the only woman on stage — remains appropriately clothed throughout.

The group’s attention to the stylistic details of the period it represents has won praise from music critics, but Raabe says his love of pop music is what drives his performances. Although he has a preference for the pop music of the early 20th century, the joy and crowd-pleasing nature of pop music throughout the decades has fascinated him and his group.

Although Raabe’s acts shed his style’s traditional political satire for sarcastic one-liners and puns, the performer maintains the spirit of earlier cabaret.

“It’s always nice to misbehave in a tuxedo,” Raabe said.