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2006 Nueva Manteca tour Colombia

2006 Recording session with Ramón & Elsa Valle in Budapest, Hungary

2006 Pure Jazz Festival Cubop City Big Band

2006 writing  articles for Dutch Magazine "Slagwerkkrant"

2006 Recording sessions for solo cd

2006 Nueva Manteca tour "My Fair Lady"

2006 Nueva Manteca Croatia

2006 North Sea Jazz Festival Cubop City Big Band

2006 Fabian Nodarse tour Belgium

2006 Drums United tour "Ritmo Inferno"

2006 Drums United tour "World of Rhythm"

2006 Cubop City Big Band tour Bonaire & Curaçao

2006 Cubop City Big Band tour "Latin Vocal Explosion"

2005 Recording sessions in Madrid and in The Netherlands for solo cd

2005 Nueva Manteca tour "My Fair Lady"

2005 Drums United tour "World of Rhythm"

2005 Cubop City Big Band tour "Tribute to Afro Cuba"

2005 Cubop City Big Band tour "Latin Guitar Explosion"

2005 Buena Vista Social Club concert  in  Brussels with a.o. Pio Leiva,  El Nene, Cotó  and Luís Frank

2004 Nueva Manteca tour with Orestes Vilató

2004 North Sea Jazz Festival

2004 Drums United tour "World of Rhythm"

2003 Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Festival with Nueva Manteca

2003 Nueva Manteca tour "The Westside Story" with Jeroen van Merwijk

2003 Cubop City Big Band Tour "The Mambo Kings"

2002 Trip to Puerto Rico, playing with Michael Stuart  (supported by Dutch Ministry of Arts)

2002 till present with FABIAN NODARSE

2002 Nueva Manteca tour with Ralph Irrizarry

2002 Drums United tour "HIT"

2001 Trip to Cuba, playing & recording with members of  "Charanga Habanera" (supported by Dutch Ministry of Arts)

2001 Rumbata tour Greece

2001 Gerardo Rosales y su Trabucombo  tour with Frankie Vazquez & Roberto Quintero

2001 Euro Radio Big Band  Meeting for EBU 

2001 Descarga Amsterdam tour with Brian Lynch

2001 Cubop City Big Band tour with tresero Nelson Gonzales

2001 Cubop City Big Band France

2000 till present joins percussiongroup DRUMS UNITED

2000 Nueva Manteca  tour Israel

2000 North Sea Jazz Festival

2000 La Banda Iré in  Imatra Finland

2000 Carlos Matos tour

2000 Bomba Moderna France

1999 Trip to New York (supported by Dutch Ministry of Arts)

1999 Tour Bonaire, Sint Maarten, Curaçao & Aruba with the Cubop City Big Band

1999 Rumbata in Cape Verde

1999 Recording concert video with  "Combinaçao Malta Dumee" starring Carlos Malta

1999 North Sea Jazz Festival

1999 Cubop City Big Band tour with percussionist Armando Peraza

1999 Carlos Matos tour Cape Verde with Luis Morais and Ildu Lobo

1998 till present percussion teacher at Rotterdams Conservatory (CODARTS)

1998 Nueva Manteca tour with Luis Conte 

1998 Nueva Manteca at Salsa Festival Turku Finland

1998 Carlos Matos tour with Titina

1997 till 2001 with LA BANDA IRÉ, houseband in clubs: Amsterdam's "Meander"

1997 Nueva Manteca tour USA & Canada

1997 Nueva Manteca tour Denmark & Finland

1997 Cubop City Big Band tour with Edy Martinez

1996 Nueva Manteca on Trinidad & Tobago

1996 Nueva Manteca Jazzfestival Kouvola Finland

1996 North Sea Jazz Festival

1996 Cubop City Big Band tour with Chocolate Armenteros

1995 till present with CUBOP CITY BIG BAND

1995 Nueva Manteca tour with Claudio Roditi

1995 Nueva Manteca tour with Bobby Sanabria

1995 Nueva Manteca tour USA

1995 Nueva Manteca tour Germany

1995 Nueva Manteca tour Denmark

1995 “Award for outstanding service to jazz education” in Los Angeles

1994 till present with CARLOS MATOS

1994 Nueva Manteca tour with Orestes Vilató

1994 Nueva Manteca Leeds International Music Festival

1994 North Sea Jazz Festival

1994 Euro Jazz Night TV show

1993 till present teacher at the PENTATON PERCUSSION SCHOOL

1993 Nueva Manteca tour with Armando Peraza

1993 Nueva Manteca tour Porgy & Bess

1992 till present concerts at Dutch concert halls and tv shows such as Van Barend & Dorp,         

         VARA Laat, Reiziger, Klokhuis, Bert Visser.                    

1992 till present  with NUEVA MANTECA 

1992 Nueva Manteca with Giovanni Hidalgo

1991 until today playing in the dutch jazz, worldmusic and Latin scene

1991 till 1996 studies at Rotterdams Conservatory, graduating Cum Laude

1988 tour in California, USA with highschool band

1988 extensive studies in Santiago de Cuba and Havana

1986 till 1991 busy in local jazz, worldmusic and Latin scene

1983 starts playing percussion

1968 born in Bremen, Germany

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS

The Caribbean

Barranquijazz Colombia 2006

Bonaire Jazzfestival 2006

Curaçao Jazzfestival 2006

Jazz Festival Sint Maarten 1997, 1999

Curaçao International KLM Jazz Festival 1994, 1997

Free Winds Jazzclub Aruba 1999

International Festival Bonaire1999

Pan Jazz Festival VIII Trinidad & Tobago 1996

The Netherlands

North Sea Jazzfestival 1994, 1996, 1999,2000, 2003, 2006

Pure Jazz 2006

Euro Jazz Night 1994

Latin Dance Beats 2001

Euro Radio Big Band  Meeting 2001

Croatia

Spancirfest Varazdin 2006

USA

S.O.B.’s New York City  1995

Congress of Jazz, Anaheim 1995

Catalinas, Los Angeles 1995

City Theater, San Diego 1995

Joshi’s, Oakland 1997

San José Jazzfestival 1997

Canada

Festival International de Montreal 1995

Toronto Jazz Festival 1995

Denmark

Jazzhouse, Kopenhagen 1995, 1997

Århus Jazzfestival 1997

UK

Leeds International Music Festival 1994

Germany

Jazz Behind The Dikes 1995

Finland

Jazzfestival Kouvola 1996, 2000

Latin Jazz Festival Iväskyla 1996, 2000

Copacabana Helsinki 2000

Imatra Big Band Festival 2000

Salsa Festival Turku 1998

France

Toros y Salsa Festival Dax 2000, 2001

BIOGRAPHY

Born in 1968 in Bremen , Germany.

Studied in Cuba, Brazil, Puerto Rico and at the Rotterdam conservatory were he obtained his “Masters Degree Percussion” in 1996 cum laude.

He lists as his most important  teachers :

Jerry Gonzales/Giovanni Hidalgo/John Santos/Naçao Pernambuco/Armando Peraza/Orestes Vilato/Lucas Van Merwijk/Panga/RobertoVizcaíno/

Anthony Carillo.

Nils’ interest in music started at an early age growing up in a  musical family. One of his earliest memories from childhood is father practising guitar for  gigs at night. His own instrumental experiences started when he began to attend piano lessons at the age of ten. He remembers: “One day my sister brought home a Paquito de Rivera record (with Daniel Ponce on congas)- this changed my live, all I wanted from then on was to play percussion.” At that time, he would have never imagined that 20 years later he would find himself performing with Paquito in  San Juan,  Puerto Rico!

When he turned nineteen, Nils had a tour with his school band to perform in L.A. and San Francisco. Directly after that, he went for 2 Month to Cuba for extended studies. Later he left Germany to settle in Holland.

The turning point of Nils’ career was when he was asked to join the internationally acclaimed  group Nueva Manteca in1992. He recalls: “ My first gig with Nueva Manteca was at one of the most prestigious  venues in Amsterdam, Paradiso, and it was packed. Almost the entire band consisted of my teachers. Next to me on stage was Giovanni Hidalgo,  who was invited as a special guest for 2 concerts. Really, I was scared shitless behind my timbales! “

But he  survived it - and from then on Nils continues to play with Nueva Manteca in many countries.

In 1995 he joined “The Cubop City Bigband”. Over the years, Nils got member of many latin/jazz/worldmusic bands , such as: Rumbatá,  La Banda Iré, Leslie Lopez’ Bombaco, Fabian Nodarse Band, Orquesta Gerardo Rosales, Carlos Matos Band, Boy Gé Mendes,  Ciento Diez, La Ritmica, Latin Clan, Descarga Amsterdam, Descarga Molote, a.o.

His latest pride is to be member of Drums United, a world percussion orchestra with drummers from Senegal, Bangladesh, Spain, Holland, Suriname and Venezuela.

Nils teaches at the World Music Dept. of the Rotterdam conservatory and at the Pentaton Percussion School in Germany. He gave workshops in Finland and Austria and he is a “Pearl Percussion” clinician.

In 1995 he received the award for 'outstanding service to Jazz education' in Los Angeles.

NILS PERFORMED WITH

Orestes Vilató

Michel Camilo

Giovanni Hidalgo

Luis Conte

Alfredo “Chocolate” Armentéros

Paquito de Rivera

Claudio Rodíti

Issac Delgado

Alain Pérez

José Espinosa

Ali B.

Larry Harlow

Alberto “Molote” Muñoz

Bobby Sanabria

Edy Martínez

Nelson Gonzáles

John Benitez

Lilian Viera

Izaline Calister

Eveline Carels

John Santos

Brian Lynch

Karl Perazzo

Raúl  Rekow

Rebeca Mauleón

Luis Morais(Cesaria Evora)

Denise Jannah

Laura Fygi

Manuel d’Novas (Cesaria Evora)

Ildo Lobo

Michael Stuart (...sitting in)

Issac Delgado

Ralph Irizarry

Tito De Gracia

Roberto Quintero

Frankie Vazquez

Bana

Sello LA (...sitting in)

Yolandita Rivera

Meñique

Chando Graciosa