Max Raabe in Cologne

Max Raabe is a German singer born in Lünen in 1962 and the co-founder of Palast Orchester, formed in Berlin in 1986. He performs cabaret songs, swing and dance-band music associated with the 1920s and 1930s, alongside original material including “Kein Schwein ruft mich an” and “Küssen kann man nicht alleine.” Max Raabe and Palast Orchester have performed at Carnegie Hall in New York as part of repeated North American tours. Their international theatre and concert-hall work has also included the Royal Albert Hall in London. Max Raabe sings in a controlled baritone, accompanied by the orchestra’s period-style arrangements. The concerts also feature his dry spoken introductions and the ensemble’s formal evening dress. Max Raabe and the orchestra play most often in Germany and also return to Austria and Switzerland.

Max Raabe & Palast Orchester is a German ensemble formed in Berlin in 1986 by singer Max Raabe and fellow music students. Its repertoire draws on the dance orchestras, swing and cabaret songs of the 1920s and 1930s, supplemented by original material and period-style versions of pop songs. The group is particularly associated with “Kein Schwein ruft mich an,” “Küssen kann man nicht alleine” and the album Super Hits. In 2005, Max Raabe & Palast Orchester performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. A 2006 concert at Berlin’s Waldbühne was filmed for Heute Nacht oder nie, and the ensemble later brought its orchestral cabaret program to the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert format places Max Raabe’s baritone at the center of a dance orchestra featuring piano, strings, brass, woodwinds and rhythm section. Period arrangements, formal evening dress and concise spoken introductions are established parts of a performance led by Max Raabe.