Lammar Wright (June 20, 1907 – April 13, 1973) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

trumpeter.

Biography

Wright was born in

Texarkana, Texas Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, in the Ark-La-Tex region. Located approximately from Dallas, Texarkana is a twin city with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas. The Texas city's population was 36,193 at the 2020 census. ...

, and grew up in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, where he played with Bennie Moten's band in 1923. He relocated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1927 to play with The Missourians, staying with the group after

Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist ...

became its leader. Wright remained Calloway's lead trumpeter until 1942 and continued playing with him sporadically through the rest of the 1940s. Wright also played with Don Redman (1943), Claude Hopkins (1944–1946),

Cootie Williams Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams (July 10, 1911 – September 15, 1985) was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter. Biography Born in Mobile, Alabama, Williams began his professional career at the age of 14 with the Yo ...

(1944),

Lucky Millinder Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder (August 8, 1910 – September 28, 1966) was an American swing and rhythm-and-blues bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical ...

(1946–1952), Sy Oliver (1947), and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

. He led his own groups from time to time. In the 1950s and 1960s he taught music and worked as a studio musician, in addition to recording with

Arnett Cobb Arnett Cleophus Cobb (August 10, 1918 – March 24, 1989)
accessed July 2010. was an American tenor saxophonist, somet ...

(1951), Count Basie (1951), the

Sauter-Finegan Orchestra The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra was an American swing jazz band popular in the 1950s. The orchestra was led by Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan, who were both experienced big band arrangers. Sauter played mellophone, trumpet, and drums, and had attende ...

(1957), and George Shearing (1959). He has a role in the 1968 film ''

The Night They Raided Minsky's ''The Night They Raided Minsky's'' is a 1968 American musical comedy film directed by William Friedkin and produced by Norman Lear. Based on the 1960 novel by Rowland Barber, it is a fictional account of the invention of the striptease at Minsky ...

''. Both of Wright's sons, Lammar Wright Jr. and

Elmon Wright Elmon Wright (October 27, 1929 – 1984) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the son of Lammar Wright Sr. and the brother of Lammar Wright Jr. Wright played with Don Redman early in his career, then with Dizzy Gillespie's first big band in 19 ...

, became trumpeters as well. He died in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

References

Lammar Wright Sr. Lammar Wright (June 20, 1907 – April 13, 1973) was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography Wright was born in Texarkana, Texas, and grew up in Kansas City, where he played with Bennie Moten's band in 1923. He relocated to New York City in 1927 t ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

*Beck/Kernfeld, "Lammar Wright Sr." – '' Grove Jazz'' online. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Lammar American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Jazz musicians from Texas American male jazz musicians The Cab Calloway Orchestra members