Dick Wright
1931-1999

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"I can't wait to tell other people about this music I love so much. And get them interested... I just want to share this music with people; I want them to hear this music. And, most of all, I want them to love it as much as I do." -- Dick Wright, in a JAM interview, April 1997

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Dick Wright (1931-1999)

When word began to spread in late November that Dick Wright was seriously ill, it was met with disbelief and denial. The news was much too sudden and dark; plus, such an essential pillar of the jazz community simply could not be spared. It was -- and now is -- incomprehensible that someone of Dick's stature could be missing from the lives of so many area jazz fans.

A longtime host (since 1960) of KANU's "The Jazz Scene," a revered jazz history professor at the University of Kansas, and a perennial emcee of countless jazz events throughout the Midwest, Dick Wright was a fervent devotee of America's classical music. And, as he told us in April of '97, he loved to share his passion for (and limitless knowledge of) jazz.

Dick's personal library of jazz recordings was, in itself, legendary. The owner of tens of thousands of albums -- 20,000 of which he donated to KU for the start of its Jazz Archives -- Dick was the consummate collector. Just about anything you would want to hear, or research, was literally at his finger tips.

An enthusiastic supporter of local jazz musicians, Dick was always capable of finding just the right words to make many of us feel special. His generous introductions -- on stage or on the air -- were always charming, straightforward and positive, and once you had Dick in your corner you knew you'd won the respect of a bonafide aficionado with discerning tastes.

It was a surprise for me to learn nearly 20 years ago that Dick was also an accomplished opera singer. Once at a jam session, someone suggested that Dick sit in and sing; the ensuing sounds of a polished operatic tenor caressing every lyric of "All the Things You Are" -- complete with a resounding upper octave tonic at the finish -- brought the house down and left the musicians with ear-to-ear smiles.

But above and beyond these many attributes, those who had the privilege of knowing Dick Wright and calling him a friend will always remember that he had a big heart, an easy laugh, and was a good person right down to the core of his soul. It all came through every Saturday morning on KANU, in his many "Jazz Talk" interviews at the Folly Theater, and in any one-on-one conversation you were lucky enough to have with this fine and articulate gentleman.

And now the task is to move on, while never forgetting just how much richer we are because Dick was once a part of our lives.

Yes, an important voice has been stilled; and the Jazz Scene, both near and far, may never be quite the same. But, Dick Wright was someone whose time here was effectively used to make the world a hipper, happier place.

And, for that, we should all be very grateful.

-- Mike Metheny


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