German Jazz Trophy

Stuttgart – November 04, 2026 -- Electric bassist Wolfgang Schmid will receive the 2027 German Jazz Trophy, a lifetime achievement award worth €15,000, at a ceremony on June 30, 2027, at 19:00 in the SpardaWelt Eventcenter in Stuttgart.

The ceremony opens the Jazz Open Stuttgart 2027. Winners also receive a statue by Stuttgart sculptor Otto Hajek. The prize is presented by the Sparda-Bank Baden-Württemberg's Foundation for Art and Culture, the magazine neue musikzeitung and JazzZeitung.de.

The jury credits Schmid with establishing the electric bass in jazz

Martin Buch, a jury member and CEO of Sparda-Bank Baden-Württemberg, said Schmid established the electric bass over decades as a distinctive, virtuosic and stylistically boundless jazz instrument. As a musician, composer, producer and teacher, Schmid inspired generations of players and made German jazz visible far beyond the country's borders, Buch said.