Thimo Niesterok (*1996) is one of the few trumpet players in Germany who fully devoted themselves to swing music. Diverse influences from Louis Armstrong and Bobby Hackett to Clark Terry and beyond are hard to ignore, yet Niesterok always retains his own musical language.
Thimo Niesterok grew up at Lake Constance in Southern Germany and has been living in Cologne since 2015. He studied jazz trumpet at ‘Hochschule für Musik und Tanz’ in Cologne with Andy Haderer and Matthias Bergmann and now works as a freelance musician, playing concerts all over Germany and beyond: e.g. in Sweden, India and South Korea (during the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang 2018). As winner of the Kobe Jazz Street Award he was invited as soloist to Kobe Jazz Street Festival in Japan.
In 2017 his first album “First Clambake” was published. In 2019 it was followed by the album “Two Talkin’ Horns”, which he recorded together with trombone legend Dan Barrett (USA).
His latest album “Stepping Forward” was released in 2023 on the tradition-rich label MONS Records.
Niesterok has worked with renowned musicians like Dan Barrett, Scott Hamilton, Engelbert Wrobel, Chris Hopkins, Emil Mangelsdorff, Thilo Wagner, Joscho Stephan, Frank Roberscheuten, Henning Gailing and many more.
“He belongs to the young generation of jazz musicians who are open to all directions. Modern languages and styles are just as important to young musicians like him as the masters from long ago. And because the world is full of echoes, it is also worth listening to Thimo Niesterok as he looks for traces.”
– NDR Jazzalbum der Woche, 04.01.2024 (Michael Laages) about Stepping Forward (translated from German, follow link for original)
“A superbly swinging album, brilliantly orchestrated, played and recorded. The leader plays the trumpet as if by magic. Thimo Niesterok has not created a new style of jazz, but he has given us and will continue to give us a variety of experiences at the highest artistic level. Pure jazz experiences!”
– Jazz-Fun.de Magazin für Jazz Musik, 21.12.2023 about Stepping Forward (translated from German, follow link for original)
“Swing is alive!”
– Musenblätter, 19.12.2023 (Sabine Kaufmann) about Stepping Forward (translated from German, follow link for original)
“The young man from Cologne, Germany, is a player with stunning technique, but that technique is always in the service of melody.”
– Jazz Lives, 21.12.2023 (Michael Steinman)
“Thimo Niesterok is without doubt already now Germany’s leading swing trumpeter of his generation and combines his special talent with amazing maturity, class and personality.”
-Chris Hopkins
“Ever since I heard Thimo play for the first time, I have been a fan! The elegance, ease and naturalness with which he plays is fantastic.”
– Paul Heller (WDR Radio Big Band Cologne)
“Thimo Niesterok’s new album “Stepping Forward” swings like hell – playing at the highest level, of course!”
– Joscho Stephan
