Sing! Inge, Sing!
The Broken Dream of Inge Brandenburg
“Detailed and easy to read! (…) A fitting monument. Not only jazz fans will find access to it, but anyone interested in musicians who show personality!” (MDR Kultur)
“An important puzzle piece of German jazz history.” (NDR INFO “Play Jazz”)
“…a highly exciting biography of the German jazz voice!” (Swinging Hamburg Journal)
“With great sensitivity, Marc Boettcher reconstructs the broken dream of a gifted singer.” (Jazzpodium)
“A moving and at the same time illuminating read about a remarkable yet tragic musician, told in a gripping way not only for music lovers.” (AVIVA – Online Magazine for Women)
“Boettcher’s commendable work cannot be praised highly enough in this age of interchangeable book releases.” (Just For Swing)
Kulturzeit, 3SAT on the book release (21 Dec 2016)
Reviews
“Sometimes a book leaves us hurt, sad, or confused. It is then the task of the reader who has been touched to find out exactly where this book hits us.
The biography of Inge Brandenburg left the reviewer sad and at the same time happy: sad about the singer’s efforts to escape her loveless and hurtful past and to find the recognition she deserved; happy to rediscover this wonderful voice and her interpretations of long-known as well as new jazz titles through this extraordinary singer.
(…) A moving and at the same time illuminating read about a remarkable yet tragic musician, told in a gripping way not only for music lovers.”
“With this richly illustrated book, the author has succeeded in creating an easy-to-read, exciting, and highly interesting mixture of biographical facts, socio-historical aspects of early West Germany, and the machinations of the music business—an balanced character study of the artist that often makes the reader waver between sympathy and aversion. Boettcher describes very vividly and in clear words the uneven, stone-strewn path of the artist’s life.
This lovingly crafted, content-rich, and meticulously researched book is more than an act of remembrance for a great singer who was denied real fame and whose life shows many missed opportunities—through no fault of her own, but also through her own actions. It shows readers the difficulties that an uncompromising life away from the mainstream can bring, with all its adversities.
Boettcher’s commendable work cannot be praised highly enough in this age of interchangeable book releases.”
“The grand, defeat-filled life of the singer Inge Brandenburg. Marc Boettcher has brought the fate of the unjustly forgotten out of the dark. This book takes you on a journey through a life shaped by upheavals, dreams, and disappointments. In fact, one is hardly surprised anymore why the music business in Germany is, for the most part, so banal, shallow, and deceitful.”