Herman Wright

{{Short description|American jazz bassist}}

Herman Wright was a jazz bassist. He was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1932, and, in 1960, moved to New York City, where he resided until his death in 1997.{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Feather |first1=Leonard |last2=Gitler |first2=Ira |title=Wright, Herman Austin |encyclopedia=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |pages=709}}

He began on drums as a teen before ultimately settling on upright bass. He worked with Dorothy Ashby, Terry Gibbs,{{cite web|title =CD/LP Review: Terry Gibbs Quartet Featuring Terry Pollard |first=Samuel|last=Chell |publisher=All About Jazz| url =http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=27309 |date =2007-10-23 |accessdate =2010-09-24}} beat poet Allen Ginsberg,{{cite web|last=Jurek|first=Thom|year=2017|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-complete-songs-of-innocence-and-experience-mw0003043886|title=The Complete Songs of Innocence and Experience - Allen Ginsberg|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=April 28, 2019}} Yusef Lateef, George Shearing, Doug Watkins and on one occasion substituted Charles Mingus when the latter wanted to play piano.[https://books.google.com/books?id=oUJA4_drvQwC&dq=%22herman+wright%22+AND+bass&pg=PA90 Jenkins, Todd S. I know what I know: the music of Charles Mingus Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006] {{ISBN|0-275-98102-9}} {{ISBN|978-0-275-98102-0}} at Google Books He can also be heard on Allen Ginsberg's Ginsberg Sings Blake.[http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Ginsberg-Blake.html U of Pennsylvania]

He had three sons, Herman Wright Jr. (brass and woodwinds), Paris Wright (drums), and Dewayne Wright (piano).