This is Our Music – Artist portrait Wolter Wierbos

Wolter Wierbos
Featured Ensemble for Doek Festival 2018
Amagi
Friday June 15 – Bimhuis

It is hard to think about the trombone in improvised music without thinking about Wolter Wierbos. Wolter plays with such passion and intuition that one can sometimes forget how mind blowing his abilities on the instrument really are. As fellow trombonist Jeb Bishop said: “there are things on the trombone Wolter can do that no one else can do”. However, it’s still his strengths as an improviser that shine the brightest. Blending the delicate, esoteric, absurd and heroic in every endeavor. He is equally comfortable playing parts and filling out a horn section with a tone that would be the envy of any jazz player, or pushing against the grain, improvising in a way that will steer an ensemble out of its comfort zone, elevating the music to strange and new places.
One of the “first call” trombonists in improvised music, Wolter has played with practically everyone, from Cecil Taylor to Sonic Youth, and has been on over 100 recordings. Wolter is/was a long time member of the ensembles ICP Orchestra, Available Jelly, the Frank Gratkowski Quartet, Bik Bent Braam, The Ex Brass Unbound, Carl Ludwig Hübsch’s Longrun Development of the Universe, as well as various groups led by Gerry Hemingway, Maarten Altena, Guus Janssen, Franky Douglas and Sean Bergin. In 1995 he was awarded the Boy Edgar Prijs in recognition of his incredible contributions to the music.

Amagi
• Eva Hoogland voice; Wolter Wierbos trombone; Oguz Büyükberber bass clarinet; Giray Gürkal guitar, bass guitar; Gülşah Erol cello; Korhan Erel electronics

Some time ago I played as a guest in Istanbul with the group Islak Köpek (Korhan, Gülşah, Giray among others); last August I heard via friends that the cellist, Gülşah, was beaten up by the Turkish police, and I decided to invite them here to Amsterdam for the upcoming dOeK Festival, and also invite some other Turkish players I know…. Oguz I met in Amsterdam, and we played together in one of his projects, with Simon Nabatov and Tobias Klein among others…. improvisation was involved, but we also employed compositions. Then I thought it would be a great idea to include Eva Hoogland, Oscar Jan’s sister, who studies traditional Turkish vocal music. I am curious about this combination!

Wolter Wierbos