Florian Raeppke Big Band

Release concert "Young And Foolish"

Jazz singer Charlotte Illinger and arranger Florian Raepke's big band bring the classics of the Great American Songbook to the stage of the Jazzschmiede Düsseldorf. After their first joint album appearance on The Very Thought Of You (2021), their new album Young and Foolish is dedicated entirely to Charlotte Illinger's voice. Together with the top-class big band, they now present their latest programme live.

Charlotte Illinger, who trained in the Netherlands and at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, has already performed with the WDR Big Band and worked with artists such as Paul Heller, Hans Dekker and Randy Brecker. She was a member of the Bundesjazzorchester and won the Sparda Jazz Prize and the Cologne Jazz Supporters' Composition Prize, among others.

Florian Raepke also studied at the Folkwang University, was lead trumpeter of the Bundesjazzorchester and is considered one of the most versatile young jazz arrangers. He has written arrangements for artists such as Helge Schneider, Tom Gaebel and ensembles such as the BuJazzO, the NRW Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Rhine Phillis Chamber Jazz Ensemble. He has led the Folkwang Jazz Orchestra in Essen since 2024.