Frank Wright

Biography
Articles

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,”

Albert Ayler: La Cave Live-Cleveland 1966-Revisited

Read "La Cave Live-Cleveland 1966-Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
January 24, 2022

Cleveland club La Cave, a grungy cellar which could accommodate around two hundred people, opened as a folk venue in 1962, transitioned into rock mid-decade, and closed in 1969. Along the way, in amongst such counterculture flagbearers as the Velvet Underground and The Fugs, La Cave booked a few of the bad boys of so-called “new thing" jazz, among them tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler, a Cleveland hometown hero. The 2xCD La Cave Live-Cleveland 1966-Revisited comprises just over ...

Album Review

Frank Wright: Blues For Albert Ayler

Read "Blues For Albert Ayler" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
March 5, 2013

Reedman Frank Wright's eponymous first album surfaced on ESP-Disk in 1965, so it is fitting that this historic live recording also appears on the newly-revived imprint, making good its mission of releasing unheard sessions by label stalwarts, alongside newer works. Though dedicated to his erstwhile employer, saxophonist Albert Ayler, Wright's tenor saxophone also hints at the influence of John Coltrane, as much in the seven-note riff which acts as a regular refrain and launch pad during the unbroken 74-minute concert ...

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Album Review

Frank Wright: Unity

by Nic Jones
November 13, 2006

The late Frank Wright focused on one aspect of Albert Ayler's work and attempted to run with it, but energy alone, however, as Ayler understood, was not a foundation strong enough to build the kind of music that holds attention. Unity, a previously unissued release which documents a live performance by Wright's quartet at the Moers festival on June 1, 1974, is an apt case in point. This music seems to lose all sense of direction early on, resulting in ...

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Album Review

Frank Wright: The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings

Read "The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings" reviewed by Germein Linares

by Germein Linares
January 26, 2006

This two-disc set features two of the notoriously underrated saxophonist's albums, 1965's Frank Wright Trio and 1967's Your Prayer, as well as providing some brief interviews with Wright and ESP-Disk record producer Bernard Stollman.

Born in Grenada, Mississippi in 1935, Wright grew up playing the electric bass in R&B bands in Memphis and later in Cleveland, where he met Albert Ayler. After listening to Ayler, Wright took up the tenor saxophone and found a new calling in the burgeoning free ...

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Extended Analysis

Frank Wright: The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings

by Clifford Allen
July 13, 2005

Frank Wright The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings ESP-Disk 2005

Despite the fact that avant-garde jazz has often met with the criticism that its tonalities and rhythms put it far outside the jazz (and by extension black music) tradition, it is quite true that many of the forerunners of free jazz found their voice in blues and R&B outfits. Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Dewey Redman, Noah Howard, Prince Lasha and Pharoah Sanders all came up in ...