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 | Thomas
Winteler, born in Geneva on June 28 1965, started music first with the flute at the
age of 6 and then with the clarinet at the age of 9. He won the first prize of clarinet
virtuosity in the Conservatorium of Lausanne in 1987 and won several classical music contests in the
eighties.
Discovering the clarinettist Johnny Dodds with his exceptional sound,
Thomas
began jazz at the age of 15 with the family orchestra "Old Time Gang", his father
playing cornet, his mother piano and his sister banjo and trombone. A
few years later Thomas also started to play alto saxophone, but really
moved to soprano saxophone
in his early thirties, being fascinated by Sidney Bechet’s music.
Thomas joined the Swiss band “Only Blue Stompers” in 1996 and won international
jazz contests in Megève in 2001, and in St-Rafael in 2000 (nominated best soloist), 2003, 2006. He played at the Whitley Bay Jazz Festival in 2005.
He created the “South Side Jazz Serenaders” with
René Hagmann in 1997 playing the late twenties south side style of Chicago and
tunes from Bechet, Williams and Willie Smith the Lion. This band won several
contests in France and played at several international jazz festivals, mainly
in France and England. Their latest record "Livin' high" won wide praise.
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In 2008, Thomas created his own band, using the rhythm section of the “South Side Jazz Serenaders” and adding Bent Persson from Sweden (among the best trumpet players in the style of
Louis Armstrong in the whole of Europe) and Rodolphe Campomizzi who is
a well known French trombone player (Bands: Jazzogène, Antracite). As a
result, Louis Armstrong numbers from the Hot Five / Seven and from the
thirties have been added to the repertoire.
The band's name is Thomas Winteler and his Jazz Serenaders
Thomas' jazz as seen by his daughter...
Thomas is also a member of Jazz and Co., who organize jazz concerts in Coppet, and is in charge of the festival of Rive Jazzy, which takes place each summer in Nyon by lake Geneva.
 One of the Old Time Gang's first concerts Nyon, 1986
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