Thomas Heberer (musician)

Education

Heberer began playing trumpet at the age of 11. From 1984 to 1987, he studied at conservatory with Manfred Schoof at the Cologne University of Music.

Leader

Heberer leads several projects, including past and present:

Solo work

Thomas has recorded and performed solo. Notable recordings include: The Heroic Millipede in 1988 (ITM); "Kill Yr Darlins" in 1997 (Poise); two albums on the Poise label under the pseudonym T.O.M.: Stella in 2001 and Mouth in 2003; the digitally released Sloops in 2007; and a vinyl-only release called One 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 (2002) uses a track from "Stella" called German Measles; Bausch's Ten Chi (2004), uses a track called Blue" from the album Mouth.

Wim Wenders used "Blue" in Pina, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2011 for Best Documentary Feature.

"Blue" and "German Measles" were both used in Pina Bausch, a documentary directed by Anne Linsel (WDR/Arte) in 2006 and re-released by the Goethe-Institut in 2012 (IN2998).

ICP and other ensembles

Thomas has been a member of the Instant Composers Pool (ICP) Orchestra from 1993 to present, along with current members: Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink, Michael Moore, Ab Baars, Tobias Delius, Wolter Wierbos, Mary Oliver, Tristan Honsinger, and Ernst Glerum.

During Heberer's involvement, the band has recorded numerous albums for hatOLOGY and ICP, and performed extensively around the world including tours in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, Japan, US. Notable US performances with ICP include the Library of Congress, 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, 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, FMP and DIW, and performed in Europe and Japan.

Heberer was a member of Tome XX 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, 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 in 1990 with his release of the album Chicago Breakdown: The Music of Jelly Roll Morton, recorded with bassist Dieter Manderscheid. The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave Chicago Breakdown four stars, the publication's highest rating, citing it "highly recommended." 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. As a duo, Heberer and Manderscheid have performed across Europe, Asia, and the US.

In 2013, Heberer and longtime collaborator Achim Kaufmann released their first recording on Red Toucan called Knoten.

Sideman

Thomas has participated 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, 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.

Harald Schmidt

Thomas served as a member of the regular band supporting German talk show host and entertainer Harald Schmidt from 1995 to 2007. He was also featured as a guest 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.

Critical reception

Die Zeit critic Konrad Heidkamp called him "the master of German trumpet," The Penguin Guide to Jazz said "outstandingly gifted," the Rowohlt Jazz Lexikon credits him with having "developed a unique trumpet style," and colleague Alexander von Schlippenbach named him "our new trumpet genius."

Teaching

From 1993 to 1997, Thomas 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 in Alberta, Canada) as well as for the Goethe-Institut in South America, Asia and Africa.

Thomas compiles a regularly updated summary on trumpet techniques called Trumpet Mechanics.

Concepts

In addition to using regular staff paper for his compositions, Heberer has developed a notation code that he calls "Cookbook." Cookbook 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.

His website gives the Cookbook semantics and several examples of scores.

Awards and recognition