Thomas Heberer (born September 24, 1965, in Schleswig, Germany [1] ) is a trumpeter, quarter-tone trumpeter, cornetist, keyboardist and composer, primarily focused on jazz, creative improvised music and contemporary chamber music. Based in New York City, he currently works as a leader and sideman in a variety of bands in Europe and the US. [2]
Heberer began playing trumpet at the age of 11. [1] From 1984 to 1987, he studied at conservatory with Manfred Schoof [3] at the Cologne University of Music.
Heberer leads several projects, including past and present:
He has recorded and performed solo. Notable recordings include: The Heroic Millipede [9] in 1988 (ITM); "Kill Yr Darlins" [10] in 1997 (Poise); two albums on the Poise label under the pseudonym T.O.M.: Stella [11] in 2001 and Mouth [12] in 2003; the digitally released Sloops in 2007; and a vinyl-only release called One [13] on NoBusiness Records in 2011.
His solo work has been used for films and dance performances, including for two choreographies by Pina Bausch. Choreographer Bausch's Für die Kinder von gestern, heute and morgen [14] (2002) uses a track from "Stella" called German Measles; Bausch's Ten Chi [15] (2004), uses a track called Blue" from the album Mouth.
Wim Wenders used "Blue" in Pina, [16] which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2011 for Best Documentary Feature. [17]
"Blue" and "German Measles" were both used in Pina Bausch, [18] a documentary directed by Anne Linsel (WDR/Arte) in 2006 and re-released by the Goethe-Institut in 2012 (IN2998).
He has been a member of the Instant Composers Pool (ICP) Orchestra [19] from 1993 [20] to present. Founded by Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink and Willem Breuker, ICP currently comprises Han Bennink, Michael Moore, Ab Baars, Tobias Delius, Wolter Wierbos, Guus Janssen, Mary Oliver, Tristan Honsinger, and Ernst Glerum. [21]
During Heberer's involvement, the band has recorded numerous albums for hatOLOGY [22] and ICP, [23] and performed extensively around the world, including tours in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Europe, Japan and the US. [24] Notable US performances with ICP include the Library of Congress, [25] Harvard University, and the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.
From 1987 to 2000, Heberer was a member of Alexander von Schlippenbach's Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, [26] which at the time included Evan Parker, Kenny Wheeler, Aki Takase, Paul Lovens and others. During his involvement, the Orchestra recorded three albums for ECM, [27] FMP [28] and DIW, [29] and performed in Europe and Japan.
Heberer was a member of Tome XX [30] with saxophonist Dirk Raulf, bassist Tim Wells (1987-1989), bassist, Dieter Manderscheid (1990-1996), and drummer Fritz Wittek. From 1987 to 1996, the band recorded four albums under the JazzHausMusik label, touring across Europe, Africa and South America.
From 1988 to 1996, Heberer was a member of the European Jazz Ensemble, [31] along with Joachim Kühn, Gerd Dudek, Konrad Bauer, Charlie Mariano, Tony Levin and others. In addition to performing across Europe, he is included on two recordings from the time: "Meets the Khan Family" (MA Music) and "20th Anniversary Tour" (Konnex).
Heberer received significant attention [1] in 1990 with his release of the album Chicago Breakdown: The Music of Jelly Roll Morton, recorded with bassist Dieter Manderscheid. [32] The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave Chicago Breakdown four stars, the publication's highest rating, citing it "highly recommended." [33] Heberer and Manderscheid went on to record two more duo albums: What a Wonderful World (2002), in recognition for the centenary of Louis Armstrong, and Wanderlust (2007), a reflection on American blues music. What a Wonderful World was critically acclaimed and received four out of five stars in Down Beat. [34] As a duo, Heberer and Manderscheid have performed across Europe, Asia and the US.
From 2008 to 2013, Heberer joined drummer Joe Hertenstein's band HNH with bassist Pascal Niggenkemper. The band released two records on Clean Feed: HNH (black album) [35] and HNH (white album). [36] With the addition of clarinetist Joachim Badenhorst, the band made an album called Polylemma [37] on Red Toucan records, released in 2011. That year, Polylemma won the Happy New Ears award from the Free Jazz Collective. [38]
In 2013, Heberer and longtime collaborator Achim Kaufmann released their first recording [39] on Red Toucan called Knoten, [40] followed by a second recording with Ken Filiano joining Kaufmann and Heberer, called Interstices on NuScope Recordings [41] in 2015.
In 2014, Heberer replaced the late Roy Campbell in the Nu Band, which comprises Mark Whitecage, Joe Fonda, and Lou Grassi; they toured Europe in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Two recordings were issued on Not Two Records: The Cosmological Constant [42] (2015) and Live in Geneva [43] (2017). Upon the passing [44] of Mark Whitecage in 2021, the group was joined by Ken Wessel.
In 2018, Heberer collaborated with tenor saxophonist Yoni Kretzmer and bassist Christian Weber. The trio recorded BIG [45] in 2018, which was released on OutNow Recordings.
In 2020, Heberer collaborated with bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Joe Hertenstein on an album called Remedy, [46] released in 2021 on the Fundacja Słuchaj! label. [47]
He participates as a sideman in numerous ensembles and recordings with leaders such as Muhal Richard Abrams, Peter Brötzmann, Han Bennink, Eugene Chadbourne, Dave Douglas, Joe Fonda, Frank Gratkowski, Barry Guy, Christoph Haberer, Gabriele Hasler, Joe Hertenstein, Guus Janssen, Maria João, Paul van Kemenade], Yoni Kretzmer, Misha Mengelberg, Butch Morris, Bob Moses, Alphonse Mouzon, David Murray, Sunny Murray, Michael Riessler, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Andreas Schmidt, Frank Schulte, Elliott Sharp, Norbert Stein, Steve Swell, Aki Takase, Attila Zoller, John Zorn. [1]
He served as a member of the regular band supporting German talk show host and entertainer Harald Schmidt from 1995 to 2007. [48] He was also featured as a guest [49] several times including for the Miles Davis episode on November 22, 2002.
From 1995 to 2003 the show aired four times a week for the German SAT1 private television channel. From 2005 to 2007, the show was performed 2 times per week for ARD, Germany's national television channel.
Die Zeit critic Konrad Heidkamp called him "the master of German trumpet," [50] The Penguin Guide to Jazz said "outstandingly gifted," [33] the Rowohlt Jazz Lexikon credits him with having "developed a unique trumpet style," [1] and colleague Alexander von Schlippenbach named him "our new trumpet genius." [51]
From 1993 to 1997, Heberer lectured at the music conservatory Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt-Main, Germany.
He has conducted numerous workshops with the ICP Orchestra (among others, the 2007 Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music [52] in Alberta, Canada) as well as for the Goethe-Institut in South America, Asia and Africa.
He compiled a summary on trumpet techniques called Trumpet Mechanics.
Other teaching positions include the jazz workshop at Akademie Remscheid in Germany [53] and the Maine Jazz Camp [54] at the University of Maine in Farmington.
In addition to using regular staff paper for his compositions, Heberer has developed a notation code that he calls "Cookbook." [55] It is an instant composition method, which allows for a high amount of freedom on the musicians' side while allowing significant structural tools on the composer's side as well. It does so by implementing the idea of instant memory shaped according to a specific set of rules.
| Ensemble/Artist | Title | Year | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norbert Stein | Die Fünf Tage | 1987 | JazzHausMusik (JHM 31) |
| Thomas Heberer | The Heroic Millipede | 1988 | ITM Records (ITM 1443) |
| Tome XX | Natura Morta | 1988 | JazzHausMusik (JHM 32) |
| Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra | Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra | 1989 | ECM (ECM 1409) |
| Thomas Heberer, Dieter Manderscheid | Chicago Breakdown: The Music of Jelly Roll Morton | 1990 | JazzHausMusik (JHM 38) |
| Norbert Stein | Die Wilden Pferde Der Armen Leute | 1990 | JazzHausMusik (JHM 39) |
| Tome XX | The Red Snapper | 1991 | JazzHausMusik (JHM 47) |
| European Jazz Ensemble | Meets the Kahn Family | 1992 | MA Music (A 807-2) |
| Sotto in Su | Südamerika Sept. 90 | 1992 | JazzHausMusik (JHM 51) |
| David Murray | Baltic Suite | 1993 | GOWI (CDG 05) |
| Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra | The Morlocks and Other Pieces | 1994 | FMP (FMP 61) |
| Tome XX | Third Degree | 1994 | JazzHausMusik (JHM 63) |
| Christoph Haberer | Pulsation | 1994 | JazzHausMusik (JHM 66) |
| European Trumpet Summit | European Trumpet Summit | 1994 | Konnex (KCD 5064) |
| Frank Schulte | Switchbox | 1994 | No Man's Land (NML 9421) |
| Jazzensemble des Hessischen Rundfunks | Atmospheric Conditions Permitting | 1995 | ECM (ECM 1549) |
| Gabriele Hasler | Rosenstücke | 1996 | Foolish Music (211 096) |
| Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra | Live in Japan '96 | 1996 | DIW Records (DIW-922) |
| Sotto in Su featuring Sussan Deyhim | Vanitas | 1997 | Poise (Poise 4) |
| Thomas Heberer | Kill Yr Darlins | 1997 | Poise (Poise 5) |
| European Jazz Ensemble | 20th Anniversary Tour | 1997 | Konnex (KCD 5078) |
| Misha Mengelberg | The Root of the Problem | 1997 | hatOLOGY (hatOLOGY 504) |
| Michael Riessler | Honig und Asche | 1998 | ENJA (ENJ-9303) |
| Instant Composers Pool | Jubilee Varia | 1999, 2010 | hatOLOGY (hatOLOGY 528, 667) |
| Thomas Heberer's T.O.M. | Stella | 2001 | Poise (Poise 8) |
| Instant Composers Pool | Oh, My Dog! | 2001 | ICP (ICP 040) |
| Thomas Heberer, Dieter Manderscheid | What a Wonderful World | 2002 | JazzHausMusik (JHM 118) |
| Thomas Heberer's T.O.M. | Mouth | 2003 | Poise (Poise 9) |
| Instant Composers Pool | Aan & Uit | 2004 | ICP (ICP 042) |
| Aki Takase | Plays Fats Waller | 2004 | ENJA (ENJA 9152-2) |
| Norbert Scholly, Frank Schulte, Thomas Heberer | SSH Plays Shhh | 2005 | Konnex (KCD 5134) |
| Norbert Stein | Code Carnival | 2005 | Pata Music (Pata 17) |
| Instant Composers Pool | Weer Is een Dag Voorbij | 2006 | ICP (ICP 043) |
| Thomas Heberer, Dieter Manderscheid | Wanderlust | 2006 | JazzHausMusik (JHM 151) |
| Thomas Heberer's Lip Lab | Lex Luna | 2007 | JazzHausMusik (JHM 162) |
| James Choice Orchestra | Live at Moers | 2007 | Moers Music (03020) |
| Instant Composers Pool | Live at the Bimhuis | 2008 | ICP (ICP 046) |
| Andreas Schmidt, Samuel Rohrer, Thomas Heberer | Pieces for a Husky Puzzle | 2009 | JazzWerkstatt (JW 075) |
| Joe Hertenstein, Pascal Niggenkemper, Thomas Heberer | HNH | 2010 | Clean Feed (CF205) |
| Instant Composers Pool | Orchestra | 2010 | ICP (ICP 049) |
| Instant Composers Pool | !ICP! 50 | 2010 | ICP (ICP 50) |
| Thomas Heberer's Clarino | Klippe | 2011 | Clean Feed (CF226) |
| Thomas Heberer | Klippe/One | 2011 | NoBusiness Records (NBLP32/33) |
| Joe Hertenstein Quartet | Polylemma | 2011 | Red Toucan (RT 9342) |
| Peter Brötzmann's Full Blast and Friends | Sketches and Ballads | 2011 | Trost (TR107) |
| Getatchew Mekuria & the Ex & Friends | Y'Anbessaw Tezeta | 2012 | Terp Records (AS 21/22) |
| Thomas Heberer's Clarino | Cookbook | 2012 | Red Toucan (RT 9345) |
| Instant Composers Pool | ICP Complete Boxed Catalogue | 2012 | Challenge Records (Buzz 1275) |
| Thomas Heberer, Achim Kaufmann | Knoten | 2013 | Red Toucan (RT 9347) |
| Datenverarbeiter | Fleur Noire Joue Les Images | 2014 | Fuego (2274-2) |
| Thomas Heberer, Pascal Niggenkemper | Miner's Pick | 2014 | FMR (FMR 383-0714) |
| Instant Composers Pool | East of the Sun | 2014 | ICP (ICP 051) |
| Thomas Heberer, Achim Kaufmann, Ken Filiano | Interstices | 2015 | NuScope Recordings (CD 1029) |
| The Nu Band | The Cosmological Constant | 2015 | Not Two (MW 923-2) |
| Instant Composers Pool | Live at the Vortex London | 2015 | ICP (ICP 053) |
| Joe Hertenstein, Pascal Niggenkemper, Thomas Heberer | HNH 2 | 2015 | Clean Feed (CF332) |
| Instant Composers Pool | Restless in Pieces | 2016 | ICP (ICP 054) |
| Yoni Kretzmer Five | Five | 2016 | OutNow Recordings (ONR 026) |
| The Nu Band | Live in Geneva | 2017 | Not Two (MW 948-2) |
| Thomas Heberer, Yoni Kretzmer, Christian Weber | BIG | 2018 | OutNow Recordings (ONR 031) |
| Thomas Heberer | X Marks the Spot | 2019 | OutNow Recordings (ONR 037) |
| Instant Composers Pool & Nieuw Amsterdams Peil | De Hondenepper | 2020 | ICP (ICP 062) |
| Thomas Heberer, Joe Fonda, Joe Hertenstein | Remedy | 2021 | Fundacja Słuchaj! (FSR 08 2021) |
| Thomas Heberer | The Day That Is | 2021 | Sunnyside Records (SSC 1638) |
| Ensemble/Artist | Title | Director | Year | Producer/Distributor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aki Takase | Plays Fats Waller | Stephane Jourdain | 2005 | La Huit |
| Pina Bausch | Pina Bausch | Anne Linsel | 2006 | WDR/Arte |
| Instant Composers Pool | ICP Orchestra | Guy Girard | 2006 | La Huit |
| Misha Mengelberg | Afijn | Jellie Dekker | 2006 | Data Images/ICP |
| Eugene Chadbourne | The Jack & Jim Show | Robert O'Haire | 2007 | Modern Alchemy |
| The Ex | Convoy Tour: 25 Years of the Ex | The Ex | 2009 | EX Records |
| Han Bennink | Hazentijd | Jellie Dekker | 2010 | Data Images/ICP |
| Instant Composers Pool | Steigerpijp | Barbara Hin, Martin van der Veen | 2010 | Sushi Film |
| Pina Bausch | Pina | Wim Wenders | 2011 | Neue Road Movies |
| Instant Composers Pool | Misha enzovoort | Cherry Duyns | 2015 | ICP |
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives for modern jazz and bebop.
Peter Brötzmann was a German jazz saxophonist and clarinetist regarded as a central and pioneering figure in European free jazz. Throughout his career, he released over fifty albums as a bandleader. Amongst his many collaborators were key figures in free jazz, including Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor, as well as experimental musicians such as Keiji Haino and Charles Hayward. His 1968 Machine Gun became "one of the landmark albums of 20th-century free jazz".
Dave Douglas is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator. His career includes more than fifty recordings as a leader and more than 500 published compositions. His ensembles include the Dave Douglas Quintet; Sound Prints, a quintet co-led with saxophonist Joe Lovano; Uplift, a sextet with bassist Bill Laswell; Present Joys with pianist Uri Caine and Andrew Cyrille; High Risk, an electronic ensemble with Shigeto, Jonathan Aaron, and Ian Chang; and Engage, a sextet with Jeff Parker, Tomeka Reid, Anna Webber, Nick Dunston, and Kate Gentile.
Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism, and ended with his early demise at the age of 33 from cirrhosis. Although he composed some jazz instrumentals such as "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues", Berigan was best known for his virtuoso jazz trumpeting. His 1937 classic recording "I Can't Get Started" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975.
David Holland is an English double bassist, bass guitarist, cellist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States since the early 1970s.
Peter Kowald was a German free jazz and free improvising double bassist and tubist.
Donald Johnson Ellis was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures. Later in his life he worked as a film composer, contributing a score to 1971's The French Connection and 1973's The Seven-Ups.
Enrico Rava, is an Italian jazz trumpeter. He started on trombone, then changed to the trumpet after hearing Miles Davis.
Michael Moore is an American jazz musician who has lived in the Netherlands since 1982.
Tom Harrell is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and arranger. Voted Trumpeter of the Year of 2018 by Jazz Journalists Association, Harrell has won awards and grants throughout his career, including multiple Trumpeter of the Year awards from DownBeat magazine, SESAC Jazz Award, BMI Composers Award, and Prix Oscar du Jazz. He received a Grammy Award nomination for his big band album, Time's Mirror.
Nicholas Payton is an American trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist. A Grammy Award winner, he is from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also a prolific and provocative writer who comments on a multitude of subjects, including music, race, politics, and life in America.
Fareed Haque is an American jazz guitarist, based in Chicago, Illinois.
Tones for Joan's Bones is the debut album by American jazz pianist Chick Corea, recorded in 1966 and released on Vortex Records—a subsidiary of Atlantic—in April of 1968. The quintet features saxophonist Joe Farrell, trumpeter Woody Shaw, and rhythm section Steve Swallow and Joe Chambers.
Jun Miyake is a Japanese composer. His music was used in the film Pina, nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature in January 2012. He has also been awarded by the German critic's award, Der Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, as Best Album of the Year for his last three albums, "Stolen from Strangers", "Lost Memory Theatre act-1", and "Lost Memory Theatre act-2".
Michael Wollny is a German jazz pianist and a professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig. He has played with international musicians including Joachim Kühn, Tamar Halperin, Marius Neset, Andreas Schaerer, Émile Parisien and Vincent Peirani, and recorded award-winning albums. In his Michael Wollny Trio, he has played with percussionist Eric Schaefer and bassist Tim Lefebvre.
Canadian jazz refers to the jazz and jazz-related music performed by jazz bands and performers in Canada. There are hundreds of local and regionally based Canadian jazz bands and performers. A number of Canadian jazz artists have achieved international prominence, including Oscar Peterson, Maynard Ferguson, and Gil Evans.
Gaston ("Gast") Waltzing is a Luxembourgian trumpeter and composer. He has created several jazz bands, including Largo and the Luxembourg National Jazz Orchestra, and has composed music for films and television programmes as well as operas combining classical music with jazz and rock. He goes by the nickname of piu.
Andreas Schmidt is a German pianist, composer and arranger.
This is a timeline documenting events of jazz in the year 2021.
Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra is the debut album by the eponymous ensemble—conducted by founder Alexander von Schlippenbach—recorded in May 1989 and released on ECM the following year.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
