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The loss of a jazz
greatRenowned
musician, former
Herald employee
Wayne Wright dies
Posted May 15, 2008
By Mary Malloy
For almost 40 years he played jazz guitar
while rubbing elbows with the likes of Les
Paul, Buddy Rich, Mel Torme, Quincy
Jones, Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr.
He learned to play by ear when he was just
a boy growing up in Detroit, and played
the ukulele left-handed, or "upside down,"
as his friends teased him. Wright was,
above all, his friends say, a humble man.
He died on May 9, at the age of 75.
Wright knew at a young age what he
wanted to do with his life. He was invited
to play at a jazz club in Detroit when he
was a teenager, and, not one for
academics, he learned his craft from other
musicians. A friend's father sang in a jazz
group at various Detroit clubs and, having
seen Wright practice, he invited him to
play with his group. After that there was
no looking back for the young musician.
Born in Cincinnati on Sept. 4, 1932,
Wright moved with his family to Detroit
when he was 7. He met his wife, JoAnn
Karaschin, when he was 19 and worked for
the phone company. "He would come into
the sweet shop where I was a waitress and
serenade me," JoAnn said. "I thought that
he had a good job with the phone company
- I didn't know then that the guitar playing
would become his passion."
The couple married in 1956 and had
two children, Nancy and Scott. They
moved to an apartment in Flushing,
Queens, in 1962, and then to Whitestone.
In 1990, they bought a small house in Bay
Park. "A very little house," JoAnn said. "He
wanted to come to New York to be where
the best musicians were."
Wright's longest gig was playing guitar
in the orchestra of the Broadway musical
"How to Succeed in Business Without
Really Trying." He was known in music
circles as the man who brought legendary
guitarist Les Paul out of retirement. As the
story goes, Wright approached Paul 22
years ago with a possible gig at Fat
Tuesdays in New York. Paul, complaining
of arthritis, said he had retired, but Wright
convinced him that playing guitar would
be good therapy. Paul, now 92, still plays
guitar on Monday nights at the Iridium
jazz club in Manhattan.
Wright worked part-time for more six
years at Richner Communications as a
graphic designer in the art department. By
that time, he was sick with chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease, and came
to work with an oxygen tank until four
years ago. "He loved working with
the computer," said Mike Bologna,
Richner's vice president of operations.
"When something got his interest, he had
to be the best at it. He was known as the
grandfather of the art department. He was
a wonderful guy."
Richner's art and production
department manager, Craig Cardone,
remembers that he and Wright "clicked
right away."
"We shared a love of music, both being
guitar players, and I loved listening to his
stories," Cardone said. "He only stopped
playing the last three years of his life. He
talked of Buddy Rich and how he toured
with Peggy Lee, Tom Jones and Tony
Bennett. He was funny, outgoing and very
humble about it all."
JoAnn said that in the last few years,
her husband was very active in his
emphysema support group, even editing
its newsletter.
"He had a wonderful sense of humor,"
said JoAnn, "and a great zest for life. A
friend of his once joked that they shouldn't
pay him for playing guitar because he
loved it so much."
In addition to his wife and children,
Wright is survived by a granddaughter,
Jenny.
Comments about this story?
MMalloy@[Link] or (516) 569-4000
ext. 202.
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