Wolfgang Lauth

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Wolfgang Lauth (born May 15, 1931 in Ludwigshafen ; † August 30, 2011 in Mannheim ) was a German jazz musician ( pianist , band leader , composer ).

Act

After studying at the Musikhochschule in Mannheim, he founded a quartet that initially included Werner Pöhlert (guitar), Wolfgang Wagner (bass) and Joe Hackbarth (drums), which was dedicated to cool jazz . For the resident pianist of Heidelberg Cave 54 , the jazz festivals in Frankfurt am Main became a stepping stone into the national scene: in 1955 and 1956 he was elected Jazz Musician of the Year. The Wolfgang Lauth Quartet was not only reminiscent of the Modern Jazz Quartet in terms of its line-up , as Lauth also had a penchant for baroque music. In 1956/57 Lauth went on a tour with Joachim-Ernst Berendt under the motto "Jazz and Early Music", which with 150 performances became the most successful project of the German Jazz Federation and was awarded the German Record Critics' Prize in 1958 for the LP recording . In 1957, the band's sound changed: Instead of the guitar now came the vibraphone of Fritz Hart shoe ; Wolfgang Wagner was now the bass player. Albert Mangelsdorff , Joki Freund and Gerald Weinkopf were hired to expand the group to a septet .

Instead of playing American standards, Lauth specialized in original compositions, but also jazzed up German operettas - and hit melodies such as “ Buy yourself a colorful balloon ”. Lauth achieved great popularity through his combination of jazz and baroque music as well as musical and hit melodies. Between 1965 and 1967 Lauth created three highly acclaimed ballet compositions for the Nationaltheater Mannheim , which he performed more than 130 times with his jazz ensemble, which included, in addition to Hartschuh, Emil Mangelsdorff and Sigi Schwab . At the Donaueschinger Musiktage in 1967, his cantata “Because love is strong as death” was premiered for choir and jazz ensemble (record 1968). He also recorded with the organist Klaus Wunderlich . At the end of the 1960s, he initially withdrew from the active jazz scene. In recent years, Lauth is back with the Jazz Seniors of Fritz Muenzer occurred.

Wolfgang Lauth was responsible for the music by Manfred Baiers for the documentary "Millions of Years Ahead of Man" produced for BASF about the South American leaf cutter ant, which was nominated in 1976 for the Oscar for best short documentary film.

Lauth worked for about 30 years under the direction of the editor Sigurd König for the then SDR, broadcasting station Heidelberg, as musical director and house composer. During this time he wrote countless chansons for performers such as Karin Eickelbaum , Doris Gallart , Iska Geri , Edith Hancke , Hanns Dieter Hüsch , Hans Korte , Otto Stern , Gerd Vespermann and others. v. a.

In 1999 Lauth published his memoirs entitled These Foolish Things .

Discography (selection)

  • 1956: Plays modern jazz - 10 ″ LP - Telefunken LA 6166 (D; also under the title Interpreta Jazz moderno in Spain as Telefunken TLF 15015) with Werner Pöhlert (g), Hans Kresse (b), Joe Hackbarth (dm)
  • 1957: Jazz and early music - 10 ″ LP - Telefunken LA 6193 with Werner Pöhlert (g), Peter Trunk (b), Jo Hackbarth (dm), Dr. Tröller and Joachim Ernst Berendt (speakers)
  • 1957: New Jazz from the Old World - Pulse 3001 (USA) with Jo Hackbarth (dm), Fritz Hartschuh (vib), Wolfgang Wagner (b)
  • 1964: Play Barock - Telefunken BLE 14339-P with Albert Mangelsdorff (tb), Gerald Weinkopf (fl), Fritz Hartschuh (vib), Wolfgang Wagner (b), Joe Hackbarth (dm), Joki Freund (ts), Werner Pöhlert ( g), Egon Denu (tb), Rudi Steuerungagel ( ts), Addie Feuerstein (fl), Horst Seidelmann (dm)
  • 1969: Various interpreters of New Spiritual Songs - Schwann ams-studio 300 (sampler)
  • 1982: Jazz zum Holzwurm - Altaxan AL 1027 with Fritz Münzer (fl, alto + baritione-sax), Hans Laib (ts, p), Jochen Schaal (b), Sigi Lübke (dm), Peggy Drake (from left), Toni Rabold (tr + flh)
  • 1983: Jazz For Fun - Trend Records TLP 005 with Fritz Münzer (fl), Fritz Hartschuh (vib), Thomas Tscheschner (b), Klaus Nagel (g), Peter Lübke (dm), Jochen Schaal (b)
  • 1987 Jazz For Fun Vol. 2 - Trend Records TLP 012 with Fritz Hartschuh (vib), Günter Lenz (b), Jörg Gebhard (dr), Fritz Münzer (fl)

Autobiography

  • These foolish things. Jazz time in Germany: a swinging look back. Quadrates-Buchhandlung, Mannheim 1999, ISBN 3-924704-29-5 .

Trivia

For decades, Wolfgang Lauth kept the job title “pieceworker” as an addition to his name in the official telephone directory for the area code '0621', valid for Mannheim and Ludwigshafen (up to the 2010/11 edition). Not a “pianist” or “musician” like many of his colleagues, but still applicable, because he was working with chords without a doubt.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lauth, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German jazz musician (pianist, band leader, composer)
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Ludwigshafen
DATE OF DEATH August 30, 2011
Place of death Mannheim