Music
Herman Wright
1932–1997 · jazz double bassist
Detroit bassist who anchored Yusef Lateef's and Dorothy Ashby's bands in the late 1950s before moving to New York in 1960.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
New York City- Detroit years
- 1932–1960
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Herman Wright started on drums as a teenager in Detroit before settling on the upright bass, and by the late 1950s he was one of the busiest bassists in the city's modern-jazz scene. He was the bassist on harpist Dorothy Ashby's early albums Hip Harp and In a Minor Groove (1958) and worked closely with multi-reed player Yusef Lateef, recording Cry! – Tender (1959) and The Three Faces of Yusef Lateef (1960) and backing fellow Detroiter Doug Watkins on Soulnik, where Watkins switched to cello. He also played with Terry Gibbs, Wes Montgomery and George Shearing and recorded with saxophonist Billy Mitchell. In 1960 he moved to New York, where he lived for the rest of his life; he played on Chet Baker's 1965 Prestige quintet sessions and on Allen Ginsberg's William Blake settings, and once substituted for Charles Mingus when Mingus wanted to play piano. His three sons became musicians. He died in New York in 1997.
Highlights
- Bassist on Dorothy Ashby's Hip Harp and In a Minor Groove (1958)
- Recorded with Yusef Lateef, including The Three Faces of Yusef Lateef
- Played on Chet Baker's 1965 Prestige quintet sessions
- Bass on Allen Ginsberg's Songs of Innocence and Experience