Thomas Pol is a Rotterdam-based bass player who is well known in the Dutch and international scene. His spontaneous, strong and grooving style is what defines him as a player. As a sideman he is the strong foundation an ensemble needs and as a leader he shows great potential with his debut album ‘In America’ out now.

Thomas was raised in a very musical family. At age four, he started playing violin and at age ten he started playing the upright bass. He began his studies at the Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where his talent and dedication were well received. In his 3rd, year he was approached by Hein van de Geyn (bassist/jazz coordinator/teacher) to follow an exchange program in New Orleans, home of  jazz. During his time at Codarts and UNO, he shared the stage with an impressive amount of well-known musicians such as Ellis Marsalis, Benjamin Herman, Herlin Riley, John Engels, Stanton Moore, Ack van Rooyen, Randy Brecker, Steve Masakowski, Caro Emerald, Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson, Harmen Fraanje, Gregory Porter, Johnny Vidacovich, Peter Beets, Jamison Ross, Wouter Hamel, Nicholas Payton, Peter Bernstein and countless others.

In 2013 he was awarded a Fulbright, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Van den Ende and UNO distinguished musical scholarship to follow the masters program at UNO for 2 years. During that time he studied classical music, arranged for orchestra, worked his way deeper in the scene, started his career as a bandleader and recorded his first album.

In the autumn of 2016 his debut album (ft. Wess Anderson, Jamison Ross and Stanton Moore) was released in the Netherlands and early 2017 he signed to New Orleans record label ‘Bubble Bath Records’ as one of the promising and upcoming artists.

Back home in the Netherlands he was commissioned by Jazz International Rotterdam to lead the Pack Project that year (2017). It is an annual project that gives young upcoming musicians a spotlight and a big boost of their careers. In that same year he started playing with Benjamin Herman as his regular bassist and occasionally teaching at Codarts conservatory Rotterdam.

In 2018 he started his classical bass masters in Tilburg at Fontys Hogeschool to study with consertgebouw bassist Rob Dirksen. During these years he got more involved into the classical scene with ensembles like Pynarello, who plays by heart and without a conductor.

As of now Thomas is working on a solo album and received funding from Amarte Fonds to make this happen.