Peter NIklas Wilson

The dual-talented bassist has recorded and/or performed with such notable avant-gardists as Anthony Braxton, Malcolm Goldstein, Fred Frith, Derek Bailey, Marion Brown, Gene Coleman, Vinko Globokar, Barry Guy, Peter Kowald, Evan Parker, Keith Rowe, John Tchicai, and others. Wilson is also a scholar of note; he studied musicology at the universities of Göttingen and Hamburg, and has written books on the lives and music of Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Albert Ayler, and Charlie Parker. Largely self-taught as a bassist, Wilson learned in part by attending workshops by such musicians as John Tchicai, Barre Phillips, and Fernando Grillo. Wilson helped found Ton Art, a Hamburg improviser's collective. He's also a member of the Ton Art Ensemble and the Ton Art String Quartet. In 1996, Wilson recorded Yarbles for the hatART label with a trio that included saxophonist Martin Pfleiderer and percussionist Burkhard Beins. In 1998, Wilson, with Rajesh Mehta and Vlatko Kucan, founded the True Muze record label; the trio recorded as the True Muze All Stars. True Muze also released a duo album by Wilson and violinist Goldstein. Wilson has taught at the University of Hamburg and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater. Another of his projects is Alphea, with saxophonist/trumpeter Hannes Weinert and drummer Bjorn Lücker. In 2000, a duo of Wilson and Mehta made Reconfigurations for the between the lines label. ~ Chris Kelsey