Biography
Denys Justin Freeth Wright was born on 6 May 1924 in Bromley, Kent, England, and died on 8 February 1992 in London, England. He first took up the guitar in early childhood and turned professional during his teenage years, working in different regions across the UK. While serving in London’s Auxiliary Fire Service during World War II, he still performed with groups led by Carl Barriteau and Stéphane Grappelli. In addition to guitar he occasionally played piano in clubs and served as a house musician for Decca Records.
Through the postwar period and into the 1950s he worked with numerous dance bands and resident groups in clubs, restaurants and hotels. Though he sometimes fronted his own units, he was more often a valued sideman for Francisco Cavez, Freddy Randall, Jack Fallon, the BBC Show Band, Lonnie Donegan and Bruce Turner. The 1960s brought further activity, including a US tour with Donegan, an extended engagement with Johnny Duncan And The Blue Grass Boys and a shorter spell in a revived edition of Kenny Graham’s Afro-Cubists. In the 1970s he formed a lasting partnership with guitarist Diz Disley in the Hot Club Of London, which led to a reunion with Grappelli lasting nearly five years. Other associations included Wild Bill Davison, heard on Solo Flight, and a long collaboration with Digby Fairweather in both duo settings and the band Velvet, which also featured Ike Isaacs and Len Skeat. Among the violinists he accompanied were Johnny Franks, Don Harper, with whom he co-led a quintet, and Johnny Van Derrick.
Through the postwar period and into the 1950s he worked with numerous dance bands and resident groups in clubs, restaurants and hotels. Though he sometimes fronted his own units, he was more often a valued sideman for Francisco Cavez, Freddy Randall, Jack Fallon, the BBC Show Band, Lonnie Donegan and Bruce Turner. The 1960s brought further activity, including a US tour with Donegan, an extended engagement with Johnny Duncan And The Blue Grass Boys and a shorter spell in a revived edition of Kenny Graham’s Afro-Cubists. In the 1970s he formed a lasting partnership with guitarist Diz Disley in the Hot Club Of London, which led to a reunion with Grappelli lasting nearly five years. Other associations included Wild Bill Davison, heard on Solo Flight, and a long collaboration with Digby Fairweather in both duo settings and the band Velvet, which also featured Ike Isaacs and Len Skeat. Among the violinists he accompanied were Johnny Franks, Don Harper, with whom he co-led a quintet, and Johnny Van Derrick.
Albums
