The blind pianist Thomas Böttcher (born in Germany in 1977) started playing piano at the age of five. In addition to a classical education at the piano and later the organ, where he also learned to read sheet music in Braille, he developed a good ear and a great like for improvisation. At the age of fourteen he joined his first salsa ensemble at his local high school, and shortly after participated as pianist in various other bands. When studying psychology at the university of Münster (Germany), he quickly got in touch with the local latin scene and soon came to realize that the music was taking more time than his studies. That’s when he decided to fully commit himself to his passion and become a professional musician. In 1999 he moved to the Netherlands to study Latin, jazz and composing at the Rotterdam conservatory Codarts and got his Master of Arts with excellent grades in 2005. Within the last couple of years Böttcher has established his name as one of the finest pianists in the salsa and latin jazz scene of Germany and the Benelux. As pianist of various latin projects (among others Gerardo Rosales y su Trabucomboâ€, “Charanga la Crisisâ€, “Eric y su Chocolate†en “Conjunto Tres-dosâ€) he has frequently played abroad, touring in the rest of the Benelux, Colombia, Finland, Ireland and Germany). Böttcher is also very active as composer/arranger, working e. g. for “Nueva Mantecaâ€, â€Gerardo Rosalesâ€, “the New Israeli Vocal Ensemble†or “Eric y su Chocolateâ€. In 2005 he published his first solo album “Saudade Mundial†together with Dutch singer Claudia Copier, featuring him as a sensitive accompanist and gifted song writer. In March 2007 he gave his debut in the famous Amsterdam Concertgebouw with is own Thomas Böttcher Quartet. The concert was recorded for Dutch public radio and will soon be released as a live album.
