Wright was born in Grenada, Mississippi, United States, and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and Cleveland, Ohio, where he began his musical career playing bass guitar, backing artists such as Rosco Gordon, Bobby "Blue" Bland, and B.B.
[3] He also sat in with John Coltrane and, in early 1965, was invited to participate in the recording of Ascension, but reportedly felt that his skills were not up to the demands of the music.
[7] In 1968, Wright briefly joined Cecil Taylor's group, which also included Eddie Gale, Jimmy Lyons, Alan Silva, and Andrew Cyrille, for a tour of the west coast of the United States, where the group had a residency at Stanford University, performed at the Berkeley Jazz Festival, and opened for The Yardbirds at the Fillmore West.
[8] In 1971, Wright briefly moved back to the United States, but then returned to France, where he continued to record and tour with a variety of musicians.
"[10] Chris Kelsey wrote that "Ayler's scalding abstract expressionism was the prime influence on Wright, who transformed it with his own personality and passed it on.
"[3] Kelsey also noted that "Echoes of Wright's playing can be heard in the work of such younger saxophonists as Glenn Spearman, Sabir Mateen, Charles Gayle, and Thomas Borgmann.
"[11] Palmer continued: "Mr. Wright has remained faithful to the rowdy, celebratory essence of what might be called the Cleveland style... the combination of maturity and power in his playing comes as something of a shock.