Günter Lenz: key obituary facts
Is Günter Lenz dead? Yes. Günter Lenz died on June 26, 2026, at age 87.
Cause of death: Günter Lenz's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Günter Lenz known for?
Günter Lenz was a German jazz bassist and composer.
Günter Lenz, the German jazz bassist and composer, died on June 26, 2026, at the age of 87.
Born in Frankfurt am Main on 25 July 1938, he began as a self-taught guitarist before studying with Carlo Bohländer and playing in U.S. Army club bands from 1954.
He switched to bass during national service in 1959 and 1960, and in 1961 Albert Mangelsdorff brought him into the Albert Mangelsdorff Quintet. Lenz later became a member of the hr-jazz ensemble, where he also arranged and composed, and in the mid-1970s joined Peter Giger in Clarinet Contrast, an avant-garde group that included Perry Robinson, Theo Jörgensmann, Bernd Konrad and Michel Pilz. He also recorded with the Manfred Schoof Quintet for ECM and Japo.