Frank Wright

Reverand Frank Wirght is one of the most underrated musical geniuses of the 20th century. He was born on July 9th 1935 in Grenada Mississippi but grew up in Cleveland. As a young man he was an electrical bassist in R and B bands in both Memphis and Cleveland. He switched to tenor sax and embraced the free jazz movement after meeting Albert Ayler and being greatly influenced by him. In the mid 60s he moved to New York City and played with some of the big names in the Avant Garde movement including, briefly, John Coltrane. His first sessions as a leader were recorded for the small ESP label. Not finding an appreciative audience for his music he moved to Europe in 1969 and except for a brief return to New York in the 1970s he spent the rest of his life in Europe. He recorded as a leader primarily for small European labels and played in groups with expatriate American musicians in the 1970s and with European leaders of the Avant Garde music such as Peter Peter Brötzmann in the 1980s. He continued to perform occasionally in the US and did perform with both Cecil Taylor and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. He passed away on May 17 1990 in Germany. According to the liner notes for Unity (by Russ Musto) Rev. Frank Wright said shortly before his death “I was put on this planet by the Creator to proclaim the message of the Universal Spirit - to shout it to the people,”

Tags