The jazz musician, pianist and composer Wolfgang Dauner died in Stuttgart after a long illness. He was 84 years old.

The jazz musician Wolfgang Dauner is dead. The pianist and composer died in Stuttgart after a long illness at the age of 84, as his wife confirmed.

For decades, Dauner was one of the defining figures on the German jazz scene. His appearances with the German All Stars and the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble are legendary. His musical partners included Albert Mangelsdorff, Volker Kriegel, Ack van Rooyen and Charlie Mariano.

The Stuttgart native began his career in the American jazz clubs in the city in the 1950s. In 1963 he founded the Wolfgang Dauner Trio. Other projects were added, also beyond the own stage: In the course of his career Dauner wrote music for film, television, theater and musical stages. As a composer, band leader and arranger, he worked with international greats. 

"Wolfgang Dauner has rendered outstanding services to the development of new jazz in Germany, Peter Ortmann from the board of the Union of German Jazz Musicians Dauner acknowledged even before his death.

Until 2017 he still invited to public concerts. Most recently, he was mainly on tour in southern Germany, occasionally also in Hamburg, Vienna or Basel. He performed part of his concerts with his son, the drummer Florian Dauner.