Black Tie Optional: A Tribute to Bublé and Beyond

Kerst Lehmann was born in East Germany in 1989, the year the Berlin Wall came down after 28 years. “My family grew up behind the wall,” he said. “I had an urge to explore the world they didn’t have the opportunities to explore.”

America was where he wanted to be. While his grandparents made a living performing in operettas, little Western music was available in a closed East Germany. After 1989, he was able to hear music from The Great American Songbook and listen to works by Sinatra, Anka and Valli. “Before 1989, records were hard to come by,” he said. “I had to find my own lane. My grandparents’ passion was my gateway.”

The music of the 1940s and 1950s resonated with the young artist. “I’m an old soul,” he said. “A great song is a great song. America’s greatest (musical) contribution is the Great American Songbook and I’m honored to pay tribute to it and keep it alive. My biggest inspiration is to introduce people my age to that kind of music.”

Lehmann and his band present a show that takes the audience through an intimate, dynamic journey filled with Michael Bublé’s greatest hits and orchestrations while enhancing it with a mix of Sinatra, Al Green, Stevie Wonder and more. The band supporting Lehmann includes Cassio Coutinho on keyboard, Paul Stewart on guitar, Hosny Franck on drums, Matthew Johnson on bass, Ron Fattorusso on sax and flute, Luke Basso on trumpet and congas, and David Levitan on trombone.

“We show Bublé and beyond,” Lehmann said. “It’s our own take on other songs. There are songs Bublé could have done. The show is intimate and interactive. Part of the act is to engage with the audience and take them on a journey. We want them to leave the show with something to take away: maybe they fell in love to a song or danced to it. It’s a mix of genres.”

Greg Reitano, the group’s manager, chimes in with words he says Lehmann is too modest to admit. “When he goes into the audience, women swoon,” he said.