Delegates
the world music professionals directoryNils Fischer Timbazo
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/Martin Verdonk/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. He is also pride to be member of Drums United, a world percussion orchestra with drummers from Senegal, Bangladesh, Spain, Holland, Suriname and Venezuela.
In 2007 Nils - with his own group Timbazo - released a CD as a tribute to veteran percussionist Joe Cuba. It is entitled ¡Gracias Joe Cuba! and several top artists contributed to its making. The album has got rave reviews both at home and abroad.
Nils teaches at the World Music Dept. of CODARTS [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.
