Günter Lenz (born 25 July 1938) is a German jazz bassist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Activities

Lenz was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. He first taught himself guitar and studied with Carlo Bohländer, playing jazz in the clubs of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

from 1954 onwards. During national service in 1959/1960 he switched to the bass. In 1961

Albert Mangelsdorff Albert Mangelsdorff (September 5, 1928 – July 25, 2005) was a German jazz trombonist. Working mainly in free jazz, he was an innovator in multiphonics. Early life Mangelsdorff was born in Frankfurt on September 5, 1928, as the son of the book ...

picked him up as member of the Albert Mangelsdorff Quintet. Since then Lenz has also become a member of the "hr-jazz ensemble," for which he arranged and composed too. In 1965 he worked in the quintet of

Krzysztof Komeda Krzysztof Trzciński (27 April 1931 – 23 April 1969), known professionally as Krzysztof Komeda, was a Polish film score composer and jazz pianist widely regarded as one of the most influential Polish jazz musicians. He is best known for writin ...

, taking part in the recording of the album '' Astigmatic''. In 1968 he played with

Joachim Kühn Joachim Kurt Kühn (born 15 March 1944) is a German jazz pianist. Biography Kühn was born in Leipzig, Germany. He was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition, with Arthur Schmidt-E ...

and

Aldo Romano Aldo Romano (born 16 January 1941) is an Italian jazz drummer. He also founded a Rock and roll, rock group in 1971. Biography He was born in Belluno, Italy. Romano moved to France as a child and by the 1950s he was playing guitar and drums profe ...

in a band led by

Barney Wilen Bernard "Barney" Jean Wilen (4 March 1937 – 25 May 1996) was a French jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist and composer. Biography Wilen was born in Nice, France; his father was an American dentist turned inventor, and his mother was French. His ...

at the Berlin Jazz Days. With ''The German All Stars'' he toured internationally in 1969 and 1971. He played with the George Russell Sextet, and also with a band led by

Leon Thomas Amos Leon Thomas Jr. (October 4, 1937 – May 8, 1999), known professionally as Leon Thomas, was an American jazz and blues vocalist, born in East St. Louis, Illinois, and known for his bellowing glottal-stop style of free jazz singing in the ...

. This allowed him to collect big band experience. During the 1970s he was a member of the Kurt Edelhagen Big Band (1972) and of

Peter Herbolzheimer Peter Alexandru Herbolzheimer (; 31 December 1935 – 27 March 2010) was a Romanian-German jazz trombonist and bandleader. Biography Herbolzheimer was born to a Romanian mother and a German father in Bucharest, Romania. His family emigrated i ...

''Rhythm Combination & Brass'' (''Scenes (Live At Ronnie Scott's Club)''.

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first ...

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signi ...

and

Benny Bailey Ernest Harold "Benny" Bailey (August 13, 1925 – April 14, 2005) was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Bailey briefly studied flute and piano before turning to trumpet. He attended the Cleveland Conserva ...

engaged him for their concert tours and record productions, as well as German musicians such as

Eugen Cicero Eugen Cicero (born Eugen Ciceu; 27 June 1940 – 5 December 1997), nicknamed "Mister Golden Hands", was a Romanian-Germany, German jazz pianist who performed in the mixed classical-Swing (jazz performance style), swing style. Biography Born in V ...

Horst Jankowski Horst Jankowski (30 January 1936 – 29 June 1998) was a classically trained German pianist, most famous for his internationally successful easy listening music. Biography Born in Berlin, Jankowski studied at the Berlin Music Conservatory an ...

and Volker Kriegel. 1972 Günter Lenz played with

Lightning Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list ...

. In the mid-1970s, Lenz joined with the drummer Peter Giger in " Clarinet Contrast", an avantgarde band around the clarinetists

Perry Robinson Perry Morris Robinson (September 17, 1938 – December 2, 2018) was an American jazz clarinetist and composer. He was the son of composer Earl Robinson. Early life and education Robinson was born and grew up in New York City. He attended the Len ...

Theo Jörgensmann Theodor Franz Jörgensmann (born 29 September 1948) is a German jazz clarinetist. Activities Theo Jörgensmann belongs to the second generation of European free jazz musicians. He was part of the clarinet renaissance in the jazz and improvisat ...

, Bernd Konrad and Michel Pilz. As a member of the

Manfred Schoof Manfred Schoof (born 6 April 1936) is a German jazz trumpeter. Career Schoof was born in Magdeburg, Germany. He studied music in Kassel and Cologne, where one of his teachers was the big band leader Kurt Edelhagen. Schoof performed on Edelhagen' ...

Quintet he recorded for ECM/Japo. In the late 1970s he founded his combo ''Günter Lenz Springtime'', an international jazz-fusion band with members as

Bob Degen Bob Degen Jr (born January 24, 1944, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American jazz pianist. Much of his work has been in the trio format. Life and career Degen was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1944. Both of his parents we ...

, Claus Stötter, Frank St. Peter, Johannes Faber, Leszek Zadlo and Joe Nay. Lenz recorded as part of the

Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra The Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra is a large German jazz ensemble led by Alexander von Schlippenbach. The orchestra performs orchestral jazz and experimental big band music and has included in its ranks such leading musicians as Misha Mengelbe ...

. In 1991 he recorded "Life at the Montreux Music Festival" in trio-formation with Uli Lenz and Allen Blairman Lenz also created orchestral arrangements for

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

. From 2001 to 2006 he taught as a bass

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the

Musikhochschule Stuttgart The State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart is a professional school for musicians and performing artists in Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1857, it is one of the oldest schools of its kind in Germany. It is one of the oldest and ...

. In 2004 Lenz received the Hesse state Jazz prize awarded by the State Minister for Higher Education, Research and the Arts Udo Corts.

Discography

Komeda Komeda is a Sweden, Swedish pop/Independent music, indie band from Umeå. They were initially called Cosma Komeda, named in honour of composer Vladimir Cosma and jazz musician and composer Krzysztof Komeda.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great I ...

, Stańko, Namysłowski, Lenz:''Astigmatic'' (Polonia Records, 1998, rec. 1965) * The German All Stars: ''In Südamerika'' (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

1969, with

Ack van Rooyen Ack van Rooyen (1 January 1930, The Hague – 18 November 2021) was a Dutch jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist. He was the brother of Jerry van Rooyen. Van Rooyen began playing with a military band as a teenager, touring bases in Indonesia. He then ...

, Manfred Schoof, Albert Mangelsdorff, Rudi Füsers, Rolf Kühn, Emil Mangelsdorff,

Gerd Dudek Gerhard Rochus "Gerd" Dudek (28 September 1938 – 3 November 2022) was a German jazz Tenor saxophone, tenor and Soprano saxophone, soprano saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist. Dudek studied clarinet privately and attended music school in the ...

, Heinz Sauer,

Wolfgang Dauner Wolfgang Dauner (; 30 December 1935 – 10 January 2020) was a German jazz pianist who co-founded the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble. He worked with Hans Koller, Albert Mangelsdorff, Volker Kriegel and Ack van Rooyen and composed for radio, televi ...

, Ralf Hübner, Willie Johanns) * The German All Stars: ''Live at the Domicile'' (

MPS Records MPS Records was a German jazz record company and label founded in 1968 by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" (Music Production Black Forest). History Originally based in Villingen, MPS was founded as the suc ...

1971, with Ack van Rooyen, Manfred Schoof, Albert Mangelsdorff, Rudi Füsers, Emil Mangelsdorff, Michel Pilz, Heinz Sauer, Wolfgang Dauner, Ralf Hübner, Willie Johanns) * Beebelaar, Joos, Lenz: ''Book of Family Affairs'' (HGBS, 2013) With Springtime * ''Znel'' (Mood Records 1978) * ''Roaring Plenties'' (L+R Records, 1980) * ''Majorleague'' (L+R Records, 1992) * ''Strict Minimum'' (JazzWerkstatt 2007) With hr-Jazzensemble * Colin Wilkie, Shirley Hart, Albert Mangelsdorff, Joki Freund und das Jazz-Ensemble des Hessischen Rundfunks ''Wild Goose'' (MPS Records 1969) * ''Atmospheric Conditions Permitting'' (ECM, 1967–1993) * ''Perpetual Questions'' (HR-Musik, 1996–2004) * ''Unauffällige Festansage'' (JazzWerkstatt 2005–2008) As Sideman * Albert Mangelsdorff Quintett: ''Tension'' (CBS, 1963) * Albert Mangelsdorff Quintett: ''Now Jazz Ramwong'' (CBS, 1964) * Albert Mangelsdorff Quintett: ''Folk Mond and Flower Dream'' (CBS, 1967) * Albert Mangelsdorff Quartett: ''Never Let It End'' (MPS, 1970) * Leon Thomas: '' Leon Thomas in Berlin'' (Flying Dutchman, 1971) with

* Heinz Sauer Quartet: ''Cherry Bat'' (Enja, 1989) *

: ''

'' (ECM, 1990)

Literature

* Ulfert Goeman ''Der Bassist und Komponist Günter Lenz wurde siebzig'' Jazz Podium 11/2008: 39-41 * U. Andis: ''Günter Lenz’s Springtime,'', Jazz Podium, 40/10 (1991), 40 * Martin Kunzler: ''Jazz-Lexikon.'' Band 1: ''A–L'' (= ''rororo-Sachbuch.'' Bd. 16512). 2. Auflage. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2004, . * Wolfgang Sandner (ed.): ''Jazz in Frankfurt'' Frankfurt a.M: Societäts-Verlag 1990, * Carlo Bohländer, Karl Heinz Holler, Christian Pfarr: ''Reclam´s Jazzführer'', 3. edition, Reclam, Stuttgart 1989, p. 206

References

External links

Günter Lenz at myspace
* 1938 births Living people German male double-bassists German bass guitarists German male bass guitarists Musicians from Frankfurt German jazz composers German male jazz composers Musicians from Hesse-Nassau Academic staff of the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart 21st-century German double-bassists 21st-century German male musicians Clarinet Contrast members {{Bass-guitarist-stub