Wolfgang Melz

Wolfgang Melz (b. 1938) is a German-American bassist and composer, currently based in Houston, Texas. He was born in Landsberg, Germany, and during World War II his family fled to Wiesbaden, in the American occupied zone. There Wolfgang built his first instrument, a banjo, and started playing old dixieland tunes for food near the train station. Eventually, Melz joined the American Air Force Jazz Band. His friends at the ensemble arranged for US Army to sponsor Melz immigration papers, and since 1958 Wolfgang Melz has been living in the United States.