![]() THE RHYTHMANTICSAlong with the jazz pianist Andreas Weise, George Frederick Takis performs over an entire evening a program of songs by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Cole Porter. The repertoire extends from the wistful “Begin The Beguine” to the buoyant "I Got Rhythm,” amuses with “Let's Do It,” then entices with “Embraceable You.” The American tenor has these songs in his blood. The review of a performance of “The Rhythmantics” in Berlin’s Kleines Theater observed: “With easy-going charm he strews the winking sentimentality of Gershwin and Cole Porter throughout the theater, enchants with night-bar melancholy and Hollywood sunrises.” Andreas Weise supports the familiar melodies with rhythmic drive and deft harmonies. Songs such as “Cheek To Cheek" or “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” diffuse an ambience of ballroom and cocktail bar, put their listeners into a tender and nestling mood. “The Rhythmantics” deliver with bravura the atmosphere promised by their name – flirting to foxtrots, syncopation for cuddling. As the song says: “Who could ask for anything more?” |