Spoke with John Wright This Morning!

[prestontw]

Hi,

Some exciting news that I thought I'd share with fellow board members... I spoke on the phone this morning with the great Chicago soul jazz pianist John Wright

and his wife in Chicago! John, who recorded five classic Prestige sides in the early 60s remains active in Chicago today gigging, after retiring from

his second career working in the Illinois corrections system. Very warm and genial guy, who retains very clear memories of recording his Prestige sides with Rudy

Van Gelder and Esmond Edwards.

I'm in the process of arranging a longer followup and more detailed interview next week with John about his career and life in jazz for a major piece on my blog. What I would like to ask here is: do any board members have any questions, input about what I can ask John? Please PM or email (prestontw@yahoo.com) me direct with your comments and suggestions.

best

trevor

[king ubu]

Very cool! Good luck with that interview!

[jostber]

Very nice! Please post a link to the interview when it's ready.

[mikelz777]

It appears that South Side Soul and Mr. Soul were the only releases on CD of his '60s work. I'm a big fan of both and was wondering if there was anything else "in the can" from the 60's that wasn't released and will we ever see that or any of his other official '60s releases on CD? (Nice 'n' Tasty, Makin' Out, or The Last Amen)

Edited February 25, 2012 by mikelz777

[johnlitweiler]

Good for you. John Wright has played occasionally at the Sunday evening Hyde Park Jazz Society events here in Chicago. We've wanted him to play at the Chicago Jazz Festival but he's declined because that's always on Labor Day weekend, the weekend of his annual family reunion.

[epistrophy007]

I adddddooooooorrrrreeeee John Wright, in fact my very first question here was about him (and his 'La Salle St After Hours', which I consider as the most "sexy" piano tune ever recorded)

=)

j.

[prestontw]

Thanks, I'll ask John. Talked both with him and his wife again last night - he remembers all

his recordings quite well, but doesn't own the original vinyl - he seemed bemused when I

told him originals sell for big bucks on ebay! He finally saw an original when his grandaughter

bought "South Side Soul" off ebay. Also - very interestingly - he hasn't received any royalties since the Fantasy sale in the early 70s. Zilch, nada....

This is going to be a big project - John is very eager to talk at length. Great stories of the old Chicago jazz scene, John is an old friend of Ahmad Jamal - told me he was actually in the audience when "Jamal at the Pershing" was recorded- and his working trio of Wendell Roberts (b), Walter McCants (d)even replaced Jamal at the Pershing.

-trevor

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

It appears that South Side Soul and Mr. Soul were the only releases on CD of his '60s work. I'm a big fan of both and was wondering if there was anything else "in the can" from the 60's that wasn't released and will we ever see that or any of his other official '60s releases on CD? (Nice 'n' Tasty, Makin' Out, or The Last Amen)

Nice n' tasty came out on CD in Japan. S'nice...

and tasty.

What I want to know is, apart from the Prestige recordings, are there any other John Wright albums? Or sideman appearances?

MG

[Justin V]

What I want to know is, apart from the Prestige recordings, are there any other John Wright albums? Or sideman appearances?

MG

MG, there are two volumes of The Wright Feeling, but you have to contact Wright directly to purchase them. I emailed an associate of his to get Wright's email address, but I never got around to emailing him and the albums have languished on my wishlist.

Edited February 29, 2012 by Justin V

[mikelz777]

What I want to know is, apart from the Prestige recordings, are there any other John Wright albums? Or sideman appearances?

MG

MG, there are two volumes of The Wright Feeling, but you have to contact Wright directly to purchase them. I emailed an associate of his to get Wright's email address, but I never got around to emailing him and the albums have languished on my wishlist.

Re: The Wright Feeling, more information please. What's on it? How does it compare with South Side Soul and Mr. Soul? How many discs? Cost? Still available?

[Justin V]

What I want to know is, apart from the Prestige recordings, are there any other John Wright albums? Or sideman appearances?

MG

MG, there are two volumes of The Wright Feeling, but you have to contact Wright directly to purchase them. I emailed an associate of his to get Wright's email address, but I never got around to emailing him and the albums have languished on my wishlist.

Re: The Wright Feeling, more information please. What's on it? How does it compare with South Side Soul and Mr. Soul? How many discs? Cost? Still available?

They're still on my wishlist, so I haven't heard them. I'm hoping that someone here will buy them and report back. You can find a review for one of the discs here. As of 2010, Wright's email address, managed by his wife Jean, was johnwrightinc[at]comcast[dot]net.