Mourning for Wolfgang Schlüter

The content on this page was translated automatically.

The great vibraphonist and co-founder of the jazz study program at the HfMT died at the age of 85

According to his family and his record company Skip Records, vibraphonist Wolfgang Schlüter died on November 12, 2018, his 85th birthday, following a stroke. The exceptional musician was one of the last German jazz legends and one of the most important vibraphonists internationally. Wolfgang Schlüter had been a professor of vibraphone, rhythm and jazz ensemble at the University of Music and Drama since 1985, making him one of the co-founders of the jazz study program in Hamburg. For more than 30 years, he also shaped the playing of the NDR Big Band. Wolfgang Schlüter was musically active until the end and was currently preparing the release of a new CD. In 2017, Wolfgang Schlüter was awarded the "Hamburg Jazz Prize" for his life's work.

It didn't take more than a few bars to recognize him: Wolfgang Schlüter's soft and warm sound on the vibraphone was considered unique. What his incomparable sound was on a musical level, his friendly manner was on a personal level. His broad grin behind a thick white beard suited him just as well as his typical modesty whenever he was asked about his almost casual virtuosity. "It's a feeling," he said with an apologetic shrug. "Just the way you play!"

After studying percussion in Berlin, he spent many years on the road with the Michael Naura Quintet, playing concerts at night and spending his days rehearsing. Wolfgang Schlüter was a regular soloist in all the major jazz orchestras of the last few decades, including Kurt Edelhagen, Erwin Lehn, Paul Kuhn, Peter Herbolzheimer's RC&B, James Last and many more. He joined the NDR Bigband in 1965 and, together with saxophonist Herb Geller, was one of the band's stars for many years. He accompanied its transformation from a pure entertainment orchestra to a genuine jazz ensemble and played a decisive role in shaping the sound of the NDR Bigband for over three decades. Even long after his official retirement, he remained musically active, playing concerts with his own quartet Four Colours, in a duo with the Hamburg pianist Boris Netsvetaev and again and again with his old colleagues from the NDR Bigband. The fact that Wolfgang Schlüter had been almost blind since suffering an eye infarction in 2004 did not seem to dampen his creative drive.

The HfMT Bigband played one last project with Wolfgang Schlüter on June 4, 2017 at the Elbjazz Festival in front of the Elbphilharmonie and fondly remembers this wonderful moment.