Frank Wright

b. 9 July 1935, Grenada, Mississippi, USA, d. 17 June 1990, Wuppertal, Germany. Wright grew up in Memphis and, later, in Cleveland alongside Albert Ayler, whose influence persuaded him to switch to tenor saxophone from double bass (on which instrument he had backed visiting blues stars such as B.B. Kingand Bobby Blue Bland). He developed a ferocious, vocalized saxophone style that was rooted in Ayler's innovations and, on moving to New York in 1965, associated with John Coltrane, Sunny Murray and Cecil Taylor, as well as recording two albums for the avant garde ESP label. In 1969 he moved to Europe with Noah Howard, settled in Paris with a band that included pianist Bobby Few, drummer Muhammad Ali and (later) Alan Silva and for many years helped to run the Center Of The World record label. Nicknamed ‘the Reverend’, Wright stayed in Europe for most of the '70s and '80s: though out of the jazz spotlight, he continued to play the intense, squealing, all-out free music for which he was best-known. In the early '80s he renewed his acquaintance with Cecil Taylor, touring in the pianist's Orchestra Of Two Continents and recording on his 1984 WINGED SERPENT (SLIDING QUADRANTS). In 1988 when he appeared at London's ICA with Jeanne Lee and Lawrence ‘Butch’ Morris, Wright's playing was as exciting as ever. He died of a heart attack in 1990.