Rabble Without A Cause
Wednesday April 3rd, 2013 with Bernard Stepien
Saxophonist Frank Wright – Blues for Albert Ayler

Frank Wright was a relatively lesser known saxophonist of the ‘60s Free Jazz movement. Like many others at that time, he frequently visited Europe where there was lots of enthusiasm for the music. He eventually moved to Europe and even died in Berlin in 1990. He never recorded for a major label like his peers including Albert Ayler, the most radical of them all. However, both Bernard Stallman`s ESP-DISK and the French BYG recorded him and he left a trail of a dozen records as a leader besides appearing as a sideman with Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Sunny Murray, Alan Silva, Peter Brötzmann and many others. While some critics describe his style as chaotic, others say that he uses paroxysm as a starting point and turns it into a system. Tonight we will survey a rare CD recorded in 1974 but released only in 2011 that features Rashid Ali and James Blood Ulmer into what would be called later Avant Funk.