TorontoJazz

(from Len Gosling):

I'm very sorry to say that Bob Wright passed away this morning.
He was a great friend of 47 years, and a fine musician. He will be sadly missed.
John, his son, plans to arrange a memorial in the near future.
Please pass this along to anyone I may have forgotten.

Len

JG: Bob will be remembered by contemporary jazz fans as the resident clarinetist with The Freeway Jazz Band, although he had not been with the band for some months, due to illness.
Bob passed away peacefully on Monday August 15, following a recent stroke.

(from Ivan Spring):

Wright, Bob (clarinet).
Born Sept 6 1928 in Norris Green, Liverpool.
Died Aug 15 2011 Newmarket, Ont.
Bob joined the army as a boy-soldier at 16 and spent several years in Germany at the end of WWII as a member of the Service Corps. It was after he was demobbed in Feb 1949 that he took up the clarinet as he liked the music of Sidney Bechet and Benny Goodman on the 78 rpm records he heard.
In 1949 he joined pianist Ralph Watmough's Band. Bob's next group was the Zenith Six, a North-Country group formed in 1954 with Tony Charlesworth (tpt) Malcolm Gracie (tbn) that made a Tempo recording in May 26, 1956. During the day Bob worked for the English Electric Company.
In 1957 Bob moved to Canada and settled in Montreal where he took employment with Canadian Vickers Shipyard. He joined Mountain City Band at that time with Pat Kelly (tpt) and Ron Vango (tbn) making up the front line. He moved to Toronto in 1976 to seek work where he has played with the Climax Jazz Band, the Freeway Jazz Band, the Hot Five Jazzmakers and other groups.

TorontoJazz at August 15, 2011 at 3:41 PM

(from Len Gosling):

I'm very sorry to say that Bob Wright passed away this morning.
He was a great friend of 47 years, and a fine musician. He will be sadly missed.
John, his son, plans to arrange a memorial in the near future.
Please pass this along to anyone I may have forgotten.

Len

JG: Bob will be remembered by contemporary jazz fans as the resident clarinetist with The Freeway Jazz Band, although he had not been with the band for some months, due to illness.
Bob passed away peacefully on Monday August 15, following a recent stroke.

 

Sam and I will always remember the joy of hearing Bob play that clarinet so beautifully.  His singing was great too.

Yes, missed him the last while with Freeway.   Enjoyed conversation with him and son John. 

Our deepest condolences John.  We got some good photos eh John?  Good to reminenice and remember those happy days.

Maren/Sam

(from Chris Daniels):

BOB WRIGHT (1929-2011)

Climax founder member, clarinet player and singer Bob Wright died August 15 at age 82, following complications from a series of strokes.

Bob was born in Liverpool, where he played with the Merseysippi Jazz Band, Manchester's Zenith Six and various other bands in the fifties before emigrating to Montréal. There he played with the Mountain City Jazz Band at Moose Hall every Thursday, eventually recruiting later Brit. immigrants Chris Daniels double bass and Len Gosling trombone.

He was a skilled draughtsman, moving to where the jobs were, and eventually ended up in Toronto in the late sixties. Chris came back in January 1971 after a few years in Britain and he and Bob founded the Climax Jazz Band in February 1971. Bob left the band a few months later when the band began to get a lot more gigs than he was able to play. Meanwhile Len joined the exodus from Montreál, eventually joining Climax.

Bob stayed in touch and in his retirement organized concerts in Mount Albert, to which he invited many old jazz musician friends. He also played the last Sunday of every month for several years with Len Gosling's Freeway Jazz Band at the Rex Hotel in Toronto. A very inventive clarinetist, Bob played with a vigour and enthusiasm which belied his years. A great admirer of Scotsman Sandy Brown's clarinet playing, he was able to catch the same intricacies and drive that made his instrument sing and swing, pushing the band along.

Bob was also a great storyteller and philosopher, with a quirky Liverpudlian sense of humour. We all have fond memories of Bob, who has now joined Malky Higgins, Geoff Holmes, Bruce Bakewell, John Hartmann, Al Meyers, Charlie Gall, Jimmy Abercrombie, Jim McHarg, Ian Arnott and too many other fine musicians who put smiles on a lot of faces in Toronto.

The Freeway Jazz Band will pay its respects to  the late Bob Wright at the upcoming Sunday matinee at the Rex, next Sunday. His Obituary appeared in the Toronto Star on August 20th and here is a copy: 

ROBERT A. WRIGHT Passed away peacefully on Monday, August 15, 2011 with his son John at his side. Bob immigrated to Canada from England in 1957, first settling in Montreal. As an electrical draughtsman, he pursued work where it was plentiful, eventually ending up in the Toronto area. He lived the latter part of his life in the quaint town of Mount Albert, where he became a well-known member of the community. He was an avid reader and shared this interest joyfully with the preschool children at the Mount Albert Community Centre, where he volunteered. His most famous stories were ones he created with his pirate puppet "Orrible Arry". Bob was considered a great musician, having played clarinet with many jazz bands over the years, including the Merseysippi Jazz Band in his hometown of Liverpool, and most recently as a regular at the Rex Hotel in Toronto with The Freeway Jazz Band. His biggest passion in life was sailing the "Grey Witch" on Lake Simcoe and he spent many summers of his retirement at Hawkestone Yacht Club, where he will be missed by his many friends. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him. Special thanks to Helen (Dad's adoptive daughter) for her support and dedication. A celebration of his life will be held on Sunday, August 28 from 2-5 p.m. at the Mount Albert Legion, 31 Princess St. (1 block north of Hwy. 48 and Mt. Albert Side Road). If desired, donations to the Heart & Stroke Foundation would be appreciated.

Brian and I are very saddened to learn of Bob's passing.  He had a long hard struggle in the last few years.

Bob was an excellent musician and made many people happy with his clarinet solos.  We all missed him when he had to give up The Freeway gig.

Dinny had an opportunity to do a private gig with Bob and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was a lot of fun.

We are sorry to miss any tribute that will be made to Bob on Sunday due to having a gig already booked out of town.

So Bob rest well and keep on playing where ever you are.

Brian & Dorine Dinsdale

The Freeway Jazz Band's Septemember gig, on Sunday the 25th, is dedicated to the memory of Bob. Long-time friend Len Gosling is back from the UK and leads the band.