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 m ...

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, where he played with

Bennie Moten Benjamin Moten (November 13, 1893 – April 2, 1935) was an American jazz pianist and band leader born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. He led his Kansas City Orchestra, the most important of the regional, blues-based orchest ...

's band in 1923. He relocated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1927 to play with

The Missourians ''The Missourians'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by George Blair and written by Arthur E. Orloff. The film stars Monte Hale, Paul Hurst, Roy Barcroft, Lyn Thomas, Howard Negley and Scott Elliott. The film was released as a Fawce ...

, staying with the group after Cab Calloway 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 Donald Matthew Redman (July 29, 1900 – November 30, 1964) was an American jazz musician, arranger, bandleader, and composer. Biography Redman was born in Piedmont, Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. His father was a music teacher ...

(1943),

Claude Hopkins Claude Driskett Hopkins (August 24, 1903 – February 19, 1984) was an American jazz stride pianist and bandleader. Biography Claude Hopkins was born in Alexandria, Virginia, United States. Historians differ in respect of the actual date of his ...

(1944–1946), Cootie Williams (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 Melvin James "Sy" Oliver (December 17, 1910 – May 28, 1988) was an American jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader. Life Sy Oliver was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. His mother was a piano teacher, and his ...

(1947), and Louis Armstrong. He led his own groups from time to time. In the 1950s and 1960s he taught music and worked as a

studio musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a t ...

, in addition to recording with Arnett Cobb (1951),

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

(1951), the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra (1957), and

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing, (13 August 1919 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 ...

(1959). He has a role in the 1968 film '' The Night They Raided Minsky's''. Both of Wright's sons,

Lammar Wright Jr. Lammar Wright Jr. (September 26, 1924 – July 8, 1983) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of trumpeter Lammar Wright Sr., and died in Los Angeles. Wright's credits are not always clear because many rec ...

and Elmon Wright, became trumpeters as well. He died in Manhattan, New York City.

References

* Lammar Wright Sr.at

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 databa ...

*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