Uschi Brüning and Popette Betancor “A Pinch of Light”: Two Notes Samba

They could start more precisely, hit the high notes better, they could remember the text better. It is astonishing that the deductions in the technical grades hardly change the fact that Uschi Brüning and Popette Betancor’s premiere of their second joint program “A Pinch of Light” was a beautiful, moving evening that was met with great acclaim.

In 2020, Brüning, the star of GDR jazz, born in 1947, and Betancor, cabaret heroine, composer and lyricist, born in 1964, emerged for the first time with “Jazz Standards Germanized”. The exhibited silliness and the little stage squabbles of the two charismatic ladies also characterized the program “Ich Mein Dich”, which culminated in an album by the two.

The fact that the serious Brüning, who is averse to any stage fuss, no longer has a singing partner like Manfred Krug next to her, but the prankster Betancor, is still surprising in the second program. “It is allowed to dance,” jokes Betancor as the two start singing “Eine Note Samba” (One Note Samba). “But it is also allowed not to dance,” Brüning replies, refusing to do any Bossa Nova step.

Thelonius Monk and Miles Davis

Another thing that sets “A Prise of Light” apart from other standards-in-German projects are Betancor’s lyrics, which are sometimes absurdly funny and sometimes poetic. And the reduced arrangements, in which Christian von der Goltz’s piano exudes melodic fullness and Willi Keller’s drums add percussive highlights. The serious pianist and the mischievous drummer are a duo no less exciting than Brüning and Betancor.

That is what makes the evening with songs by Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk so likeable and touching: there are characters sitting and standing on the stage who seem to have absorbed musicality with their mother’s milk. Or – as in the case of Betancor – who have completed a degree in contemporary composition after 25 years of cabaret career.

When Brüning, who repeatedly lets presenter Betancor take the lead at the microphone, begins the second set after the break with the ballad “Endlich Sonntag” (Come Sunday) by Duke Ellington, the Spiegelzelt is filled with devout intimacy.

When Brüning later spends far too long looking at the lyrics for “Nimm Fünf” (Take Five) and resorts to improvisation, she has long since disappeared. “If I’m going to sing your lyrics, I might as well speak my own language,” Brüning teases his colleague Betancor. The language of music, for example.