George Gruntz

George Gruntz led the Concert Jazz Band, a long-running orchestra devoted to fresh material from its current and former members along with the director’s own charts; across several decades the ensemble ranked among the most invigorating large jazz groups. A skilled pianist, Gruntz first performed in Swiss clubs before making his American debut in 1958 as a member of Marshall Brown’s International Youth Band at the Newport Jazz Festival. During the 1960s his European trio backed visiting U.S. artists such as Dexter Gordon and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and the same unit supplied three-quarters of Phil Woods’ forward-looking European Rhythm Machine from 1968 to 1969. Gruntz also recorded in varied contexts, among them sessions with the Swiss All-Stars, a four-flute septet, and Middle Eastern players plus Jean-Luc Ponty on the 1967 album Noon in Tunisia. He assembled the Concert Jazz Band in 1972; over the years the roster included Benny Bailey, Woody Shaw, Franco Ambrosetti, Dexter Gordon, Herb Geller, Phil Woods, Eddie Daniels, Ray Anderson, Lew Soloff, Chris Hunter, Bob Mintzer, and numerous additional American and European soloists. The group generally undertook two tours annually and once appeared in China. Gruntz continued to document smaller-ensemble work as well, issuing albums on Enja and TCB throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He passed away at his residence in Basel, Switzerland, on January 10, 2013, at the age of eighty.