Wolter Wierbos

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Wolter Wierbos is a Dutch jazz trombonist, born in Holten, Overijssel, in 1957. He has played in Europe, Canada, the United States and Asia and received, among other awards, the Podiumprijs for jazz and improvised music. In 1995 he won the VPRO/Boy Edgar Prize, the most important Dutch jazz award. Since 1979 he has played in numerous groups, such as Cumulus with Ab Baars and Harry de Wit, J.C. Tans & Rockets, the Theo Loevendie Quintet, the Guus Janssen Septet, Peter van Bergen's Loos and the Maarten Altena Ensemble. He also led a group of his own, Celebration of Difference.

Music and breakthrough

Wierbos has worked on theatre, dance, television and film and has been invited by rock bands such as The Ex and Sonic Youth. He has also played with Henry Threadgill, the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra under Alexander von Schlippenbach, the European Big Band under Cecil Taylor and the Mingus Big Band under Gunther Schuller. He has been active for years with Misha Mengelberg's Instant Composers Pool, which won a Down Beat award in 2002, and with the quintet of Gerry Hemingway and Bik Bent Braam.

Influence

He also has a solo career, with, among other things, the project Wollo's World, in which he brings together very different combinations, from a duo with the tap dancer Marije Nie and the bassist Wilbert de Joode to a quartet with Mengelberg, Mats Gustafsson and De Joode. He can be heard on more than a hundred records. His solo CD X Caliber from 1995 shows his instrument from buzzing mutes and growling outbursts to radiant melodies. Wierbos shows that the trombone in Dutch improvised music can sound both funny and adventurous.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 2001The Ayes Have It

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• After Hours: Session 3^NL Reader