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Young Talent Prize (awarded by the Ville de Bruxelles during the Dgango d'Or ceremony, Nov. 2001).

Nicolas THYS

acoustic & electric bass


Belgian born, August 27 1968, Nicolas studied at the Hilversum conservatory in the Netherlands, where he graduated cum laude, in '93, bass guitar, and with similar distinction, a year later, conmtrabass.
In addition, he took private lessons with Marc JOHNSON, Marc HELIAS and Dave HOLLAND.
He is now himself teaching.

Nicolas THYS performed a.o. with : Rick HOLLANDER, Lee KONITZ, Judy NIEMACK, Bart VAN LIER, Toon ROOS, Ferdinand POVEL, Ali RYERSON, Ben VAN DEN DEUGEN/Jarmo Hoogendijk Quintet, Harold LAND, Wim OVERGAUW, the Dutch radio orchestra METROPOLE, the TIMELESS ORCHESTRA, Garrett LIST and the New Belgian Big Band, Richard ROUSSELET, Gary SMULYAN, Franco AMBROSETTI, Ben MONDER, Dusko DOJKOVIC, Jeff WILLIAMS, TIMELESS BIG BAND, Simon NABATOV, Marc DUCRET, Toots THIELEMANS, Mark TURNER, Bob MALACH, Jasper VAN 'T HOFF.
He toured Germany with American trumpet player Benny BAILEY.

Nick THYS is a member of groups of various styles, thanks to the fact that he plays as well electric as acoustic bass.
He performed in the United States, in Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Tzech Republic, Luxembourg, Portugal, Switzerland, UK and Italy.

As a player he received several awards in Belgium:

For the Dutch radio TROS, he recorded, with the Rob MADNA Trio, a concert with guest soloist Bob BROOKMEYER.

In September 93, on the occasion of a workshop, he gave, on electric bass, a concert of duos with guitarist Mike STERN and bassist John PATITUCCI.

In June 94, he takes part in a live recording of Kris DEFOORT's group, "KD'S DECADE live". A recording of the trio which he was leading was played on 124 radio stations in the US and in Canada.
He also performed at the famous New York Sweet Basil.

More recently, he played with Nathalie LORIERS, Michel HERR, the BRUSSELS JAZZ ORCHESTRA, Ivan PADUART, OCTURN, etc.

Nicolas appeared at the NORTH SEA JAZZ FESTIVAL and in the MONTREUX festival.

He obtained a scholarship, from the Dutch government to study, in New York, in 1997.

Recently, Nov. '97 / April '98, he performed, in Japan & Belgium with Toots THIELEMANS and Kenny WERNER.

He also presents his own group ALICE'S 5 MOONS, wich played in various countries and released in '97 its first CD :

Nicolas THYS : "ALICE'S FIVE MOONS" (Crossover Records CO-9) with Jeroen VAN HERZEELE on tenor sax, John SCHROEDER on guitar, Jan KUIJKEN on cello, Falk WILLIS on drums and Anne on vocals (1997).

His latest, todate, is his participation in NICE GUYS (tours in the USA, Japan, Belgium, Germany) with:

For 1999, Nicolas has a European tour with his "Alice's 5 Moons" project (spring)
New CD release, with his "Alice's 5 Moons" titled "The Shell & The Butterfly" (Crossover), expected release during the summer.
Also, April '99, the release of the CD PASSAGES, Kris DEFOORT's double album, concerts with the " Dreamtime" project.

Nicolas currently lives in the US, whe he is very active.

He also often plays in trio with US pianist Bill CARROTHERS and appears on his CDs "Swing sing songs" and "I love Paris" (Pirouet records).

Selected Discography
BART PULLENS & HIS SEA-SIDE BAND DE TOON ZAAL STEMRA AMR 920 206 /'92
EUROP' JAZZ CONTEST 15th hoeilaart Int'l B.SHARP CDS 097 /'93
K.D.'S DECADE LIVE W.E.R.F. 004 /'94
FELIX SIMTAINE INTENSIVE ACT IGLOO IGL125 /'96
JOHANNES HERRLICH THINKING OF YOU GEMA LC 8975 /'96
TOMAS & CO. LE SINGULIER DES PLURIELS TOMAS & CO. T96.01 /'96
JASON SEIZER PATIENCE ACOUSTIC MUSIC 319.1087.2 /'96
FIVE UP HIGH RN DISCS RN 010 /'96
KURT VAN HERCK QUARTET ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER DOLLAR IGLOO IGL120 /'96
FRED WILBAUX CHRONAXIE IGLOO IGL130 /'96
BRUSSELS JAZZ ORCHESTRA LIVE BRTN R3 97004 /'97
BART DEFOORT QUARTET MOVING W.E.R.F. 009 /'97
ERIC VERMEULEN ICARUS CONSORT INTO PIECES IGLOO IGL137 /'97
MARTINEZ MOVE HYBRID OFFSPRING BIEM STEMRA /'97
JESSE VAN RULLER EUROPEAN 5tet ADS 2003-045 /'97
ANDI MAILE QUARTET MAILENSTEINE SATIN DOLL PRODS SDP 1022-1 /'97
NICOLAS THYS ALICE'S 5 MOONS CROSSOVER CO-9 /'97
IVAN PADUART CLAIR OBSCUR A RECORDS AL 73105 /'97
OCTURN OCEAN W.E.R.F. 008 /'97
PETER HERTMANS BUDDIES VKH TS004 /'97
NILS WOGRAM SPEED LIFE ENJA ENJ 93462 /'98
WALTER LANG CHAPLIN ON PIANO NIPPON CROWN CRCJ-9148 /'98
DAVID LINX STANDARDS TRAVERS /'98
KRIS DEFOORT PASSAGES WERF 014-015/'99
BRUSSELS JAZZ ORCHESTRA THE SEPTEMBER SESSIONS WERF 018/2000
OCTURN ROUND WERF 020/2000
Bill CARROTHERS SWING SING SONGS 02/2001
KRIS DEFOORT/TURNER/THYS/BLACK SOUND PLAZA WERF 037/2002
NICOLAS THYS TRIO IN MY TREEIGLOO IGL169 /2003
Bill CARROTHERSI LOVE PARIS Pirouet Records, 04/2005