Frank Wright

[Ennis Snavely]

Just thought I'd start a thread on this guy.

I'm enjoying "Your Prayer" and the little I've heard of "One For John" I liked.

He sounds like the mising link between Coltrane and Ayler, sort of. He's got his concept down and he plays well, I think.

I noticed that DMG has the following in stock:

A Noah Howard date with Wright, Few, Ali, Kent Carter and Arthur Doyle (?).
An 80's Raphe Malik date with Wright.
The debut trio recording on ESP.

Anyone heard any of these? Also, are any of the COTW disks reissued still in print?

I saw one LP on EBAY a couple of times of Wright with Eddie Jefferson and (I think) Philly Joe Jones. What's that one like!?

I have a couple of bootleg dates of his quartet.

Really cool stuff.

Don't have the tapes in front of me, but when I get home I'll list the dates and line up.

[Pete C]

What do you mean by "the missing link between Coltrane & Ayler"? It's apparent that AYler was an influence on late Trane, but I'm not sure how much of an influence Trane was on Ayler, if that's what you're getting at.

I haven't heard Wright in years, but I always thought of him as generally in the "Ayler camp."

An Ayler associate I really love is Charles Tyler. His alto playing is sort of an amalgam of AYler & Ornette.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

I hadn't heard this guy's name mentioned in years:


Biographyby Chris Kelsey

Wright never made much of a name for himself outside the innermost circle of free jazz musicians and fans, yet he was influential in his own subversive way. Unlike Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, or Cecil Taylor -- peers and contemporaries who were the same age or only slightly older -- Wright never recorded even a single record under his own name for a major label; he was "underground" his entire career. Ayler's scalding abstract expressionism was the prime influence on Wright, who transformed it with his own personality and passed it on. Echoes of Wright's playing can be heard in the work of such younger saxophonists as Glenn Spearman, Sabir Mateen, Charles Gayle, and Thomas Borgmann.

Wright played electric bass as a young man, performing in R&B bands in Memphis and Cleveland -- Albert Ayler's hometown. It was there that he met Ayler, who inspired him to take up the tenor saxophone. Wright moved to New York in the early '60s and established himself on the burgeoning free jazz scene, playing with such musicians as organist Larry Young, saxophonist Noah Howard, and drummer Sunny Murray. Wright also played briefly with John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor. He led his first record date in 1965, Frank Wright Trio for the ESP label; his band included bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Tom Price. A Wright-led quintet recorded Your Prayer for ESP in 1967. He moved to France two years later, where he played with other American expatriates, including Noah Howard, pianist Bobby Few, and drummer Art Taylor. The early '70s saw Wright perform and record with a band usually comprised of himself, Few, Howard, and drummer (not boxer) Muhammad Ali; bassist Alan Silva replaced Howard around 1972.

After returning briefly to the U.S. in 1971, Wright moved back to France. During the '70s and '80s, he worked both there and in the U.S., recording mostly for small European labels as both a leader and sideman with such musicians as bassist Saheb Sarbib, saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, and trumpeter Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson. In the mid-'80s, he formed an association with the world-renowned visual artist and sometime musician A.R. Penck; he also recorded and performed with Cecil Taylor. In 1988, he performed in concert with the Art Ensemble of Chicago at the Petrillo Bandshell in Chicago. His last recordings from 1989-1990 were with a trio that included Penck on drums and Frank Wollny on bass.

The bio doesn't mention it but Wright died in 1990 in Germany.

[Jesse]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Ennis Snavely

Also, are any of the COTW disks reissued still in print?

Ennis:
See my post on the Ayler Box thread, around post #68.
(I'm not a Frank Wright guy, I'm a Few/Silva/Ali guy).

Jesse

[Dick Bowman]

Originally Posted by Ennis Snavely

...

A Noah Howard date with Wright, Few, Ali, Kent Carter and Arthur Doyle (?).
An 80's Raphe Malik date with Wright.
The debut trio recording on ESP.

...

I saw one LP on EBAY a couple of times of Wright with Eddie Jefferson and (I think) Philly Joe Jones. What's that one like!? ...

Very briefly, and off the top of my head...

Frank Wright was a fairly limited player, but made up in enthusiasm what he lacked in technique - Glenn Spearman is someone who was much influenced by him.

The Noah Howard is a compilation from Howard's recordings from (mostly, I think) the late 60s and early 70s. Probably worth hearing if you can't find the originals.
I just got the Malik last week, only listened once - not a lot of Wright there and he's relatively subdued (the last track is a bit of an RnB honker, which lets the disc down).
The ESP trio is what started the Wright story, idiomatic ESP and a player with a story to tell.
Toward the end of his life, returning from Europe to the US, Wright quietened down a lot - I think he lost a lot of his impact - he was playing and recording with people like Eddie Jefferson - those years didn't do much for me.

I think the Wright stuff to get is the two ESPs, the quartets with Noah Howard (there's a lot of nice stylistic contrast between the two horns) and the Center Of The World stuff.

Hope that's helpful.

[Root Doctor]

I like "Church Number Nine," which features some hellacious skronking overlaid on a gospel chassis.

[Ennis Snavely]

Originally Posted by Pete C

What do you mean by "the missing link between Coltrane & Ayler"?

I do hear a little trane in his playing on "My Prayer" and "One for John", at least. He seemed to be taking in the major players of the time as his influences. No suprise about that.

An Ayler associate I really love is Charles Tyler. His alto playing is sort of an amalgam of AYler & Ornette.

I've heard his ESP stuff and like it. I've also heard some later stuff on a Billy Bang LP where Tyler was playing Bari; he really sounded awful at that point.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Ennis Snavely

I've heard [Tyler's] ESP stuff and like it. I've also heard some later stuff on a Billy Bang LP where Tyler was playing Bari; he really sounded awful at that point.

I don't know the Bang album. I love Tyler's "Eastern Man Alone" and "Voyage from Jericho" (I heard the performance in real-time when it was broadcast on WKCR, and had it on reel-to-reel tape before the album was released). He plays beautifully on Khan Jamal's "Dark Warrior" (Steeplechase, 1984).

[Ennis Snavely]

Originally Posted by Pete C

He plays beautifully on Khan Jamal's "Dark Warrior" (Steeplechase, 1984).

Yes! I forgot about that one (with Johnny Dyani too).

[Captain Hate]

Originally Posted by Pete C

I don't know the Bang album. I love Tyler's "Eastern Man Alone" and "Voyage from Jericho" (I heard the performance in real-time when it was broadcast on WKCR, and had it on reel-to-reel tape before the album was released). He plays beautifully on Khan Jamal's "Dark Warrior" (Steeplechase, 1984).

I liked "Dark Warrior" too. "Sixty Minute Man" on Adelphi I wasn't too crazy about. I also had an lp with a fairly large group that included David Baker that played a killer version of Friday the 13th; AMG doesn't list it and doing a google on Charles Tyler produces a gazillion hits on other things.

It would be nice to have a cd of "Saga of the Outlaws"; especially since it was one long song. Paging Chuck Nessa....

[Ennis Snavely]

Just got the two "Center of the World" disks on Fractal. I listened to the first disk (a 72 concert and a 78 concert). Bobby Few is great! This is the first time I think I've heard him outside of Steve Lacy's orbit. He's got a distinctive sound ans with this group get's into some intense grooves. Wright is pretty good too. He really seems to owe more to Pharoh or Coltrane than Ayler, I think.

This is great, classic energy music.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Ennis Snavely

Bobby Few is great! This is the first time I think I've heard him outside of Steve Lacy's orbit.

Check out Booker Ervin's "The In-Between." It's a great album, and one of Few's earliest appearances.