John Wright (pianist)

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John Wright (born September 7, 1934 in Louisville , † December 15, 2017) was an American jazz pianist who enjoyed success in Chicago, especially in the 1960s.

Live and act

John Wright's family moved to Chicago in 1936; his father worked in the cattle market and his mother was an evangelistic minister who started a church. In the early 1940s, the family moved to Chicago's South Side; He started playing the piano at the age of three and the organ in his mother's church when he was eight. At the age of 12 he accompanied a youth choir and soon afterwards became a church musician . At the age of 15 he discovered jazz in a nearby pub called Smitty's Corner . There he soon had the opportunity to perform as a pianist. In the early 1950s he met Jodie Christian , a classmate at Wendell Phillips High School, and had jam sessions with himfrom. He then signed up as a volunteer for military service in the Korean War ; after his discharge from the army he played in soldiers' clubs in Europe, a. a. also with Marshall Allen , Billy Mitchell , Frank Hooks and Tom McIntosh .

After his return to Chicago in 1955, Wright appeared in the local jazz scene in clubs such as the C&C Lounge , the Grand Ballroom and McKie's Disc Jockey Show Lounge ; eventually he got an engagement in the Randolph Rendezvous with Jelly Holt's Four Whims. In 1960 he got the opportunity to record for the New York jazz label Prestige Records in Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs . At the session on August 30, 1960, bassist Wendell Roberts and drummer Walter McCants took part. The LP South Side Soul was followed by five other soul jazz productions by 1962 , Nice 'N' Tasty (1960, with JC Heard ), Makin 'Out (1961, with Eddie Williams , Wendell Marshall and Roy Brooks ), The Last Amen ( New Jazz Records , 1961 with Eugene Taylor and Walter McCants) and in April 1962 Mr. Soul , with Wendell Marshall and Walter Perkins .

Due to alcohol problems, however, Wright lost the record deal with Prestige and the tour commitments; but he had the opportunity to appear in the backing band of the singer Oscar Lindsay. From the mid-1980s he worked full-time as a librarian in Cook County Prison; he also performed with Lindsay at Philander's Restaurant in Oak Park until 2009 . In 1994 he recorded one last album ( Changes & Choices ) with jazz standards like " Blue Monk ", " Fly Me to the Moon ", " Summertime ", " My Funny Valentine ", and " Watermelon Man ". In the field of jazz he was involved in eight recording sessions between 1960 and 1994.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed December 17, 2017)
personal data
SURNAME Wright, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Louisville
DATE OF DEATH 15th December 2017