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Cops Find Body Of Dead Jazz Musician Stuffed In Storage Trunk
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 11, 2011
Modified May 11, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published May 11, 2011
Modified May 11, 2011
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A Brooklyn jazz musician who has been missing since last week was found dead in his home yesterday. Police found the body of bassist and pianist Stanley Wright, 62, in a storage chest in the basement of his Brownsville home. Police have not given a cause of death, but his sister, Theresa Wright, told CBS that she thinks he was killed by someone who “knew him very well,” but also added, “I can’t even think who would do something like this to my brother."
Wright, who performed under the name Suleiman-Marim (or Suleiman-Hakim) Wright, went missing last Friday; his body was discovered after his son, Khalil, called cops after going to the Brownsville home and finding the door open (a basement window was also missing). Wright, who has three children, is a widower who has lived alone with his cats since his wife of 40-years died. Wright once taught music at a Brooklyn junior high school, gave music lessons, played at several gigs at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and performed at the Williamsburg Music Center until diabetes forced him to stop. Relatives suspect it was murder: "This is crazy? Who would do something like that to him? He was a musician. He was a great man," said his great-niece, Minnie Wright.
One of Wright's daughters is actress N'Bushe Wright, who co-starred in the movie Blade in 1998 and also appeared in Dead Presidents in 1995. Neighbors and family say he was generous with helping kids learn to play music: "He was a loving, caring person. His whole life he was a giver. In the summertime he would buy the whole block ice cream. He would give piano lessons to kids on the block," said Tylique Wright.
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brownsville
death
jazz
stanley wright
Suleiman-Hakim
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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