Marcus Gastreich reports on last night's concert at the Altes Pfandhaus in Cologne:

Play anything in C! – What? – Just anything! A-one, tick, a-three, tick….

And then the groove locomotive started towards the sunset: Janis Siegel (the voice of the Manhattan Transfer) performed after a relentless applause from the audience. How the band magically swayed on Ellington's In A Mellow Tone after they were given the key by Ms. Siegel was just one of the mysteries of this evening which simply had to seduce the audience.

Ms. Siegel is the voice of the Boy from New York City, of Chanson d'Amour, but also of the jazz ballad - she handles it all and the Altes Pfandhaus in south Cologne is one of the newer achievements of the Rhine metropolis' cultural scene.

What would have been a real challenge anywhere else - star meets 50 guests - Janis Siegel had no problem at all with this situation and this can only happen when atmosphere and setting fit. And it was fitting in this surrounding with a wooden oval stage, the seat benches, the wine or, pardon me, the Kölsch in a close-up view to the star.

Shortly before organiser Alexander Sandman made his announcement, someone in the audience said that only the open fire is missing. Janis Siegel opened with Love is The Tender Trap and then continued with songs from the Great American Songbook. Cologne's own Martin Sasse, piano, John Goldsby, bass, and Hans Dekker, drums, played a fast version of Gershwin's The Man I Love and Ms. Siegel proved with Jeepers Creepers that she's one of the chosen few with a license to scat.

This was even topped by her virtuosic rendition of Sing Joy Spring.