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Henry Grimes

Master jazz musician (acoustic bass, violin, poetry) HENRY GRIMES has played more than 600 concerts in 30 countries (including many festivals) since 2OO3, when he made his astonishing return to the music world after 35 years away. He was born and raised in Philadelphia and attended the Mastbaum School and Juilliard. As a youngster in the '50s and early '60s, he came up in the music playing and touring with Willis "Gator Tail" Jackson, Arnett Cobb, "Bullmoose" Jackson, "Little" Willie John, and a number of other great R&B / soul musicians; at Juilliard he played classical music on bass with the opera orchestra and studied with the great Fred Zimmermann, principal bassist of the New York Philharmonic; but drawn to jazz, he went on to play, tour, and record with many great jazz musicians of that era, including Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Haynes, Lee Konitz, Steve Lacy, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, Sunny Murray, Sonny Rollins, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner, and Rev. Frank Wright.

Sadly, a trip to the West Coast to work with Al Jarreau and Jon Hendricks went awry, leaving Henry in Los Angeles at the end of the '6O's with a broken bass he couldn't pay to repair, so he sold it for a small sum and faded away from the music world. Many years passed with nothing heard from him, as he lived in his tiny rented room in an S.R.O. hotel in downtown Los Angeles, working as a manual laborer, custodian, and maintenance man, and writing many volumes of handwritten poetry.

He was discovered there by a Georgia social worker and fan named Marshall Marrotte in 2002 and was given a bass by William Parker, and after only a few weeks of ferocious woodshedding, Henry emerged from his room to begin playing concerts around Los Angeles, and shortly afterwards made a triumphant return to New York City in May, '03 to play in the Vision Festival.

Since then, often working as a leader, he has played, toured, and / or recorded with many of this era's music heroes, such as Rashied Ali, Marshall Allen, Fred Anderson, Marilyn Crispell, Ted Curson, Andrew Cyrille, Bill Dixon, Dave Douglas, Andrew Lamb, Edward "Kidd" Jordan, Roscoe Mitchell, David Murray, Amina Claudine Myers, William Parker, Marc Ribot, Wadada Leo Smith, and Cecil Taylor. In the past few years, Henry has also held a number of residencies and offered workshops and master classes on major campuses (including Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, Hamilton College of Performing Arts, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, CalArts, Mills College, the University of Gloucestershire at Cheltenham, and several more). He can be heard on about a dozen new recordings, made his professional debut on a second instrument (the violin) at Lincoln Center at the age of 70 with Cecil Taylor, has seen the publication of the first volume of his poetry, "Signs Along the Road," and creates illustrations to accompany his new recordings and publications. He has received many honors in recent years, including four Meet the Composer grants and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Arts for Art / Vision Festival in 2016. He can be heard on 90+ recordings on various labels, including Atlantic, Ayler Records, Blue Note, Columbia, ESP-Disk, ILK Music, Impulse!, JazzNewYork Productions, Pi Recordings, Porter Records, Prestige, Riverside, and Verve.

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Album Review

Hasaan Ibn Ali: Reaching For The Stars: Solos/Duos/Trios

Read "Reaching For The Stars: Solos/Duos/Trios" reviewed by Doug Collette


Since its inception in 2010, Omnivore Recordings has applied a most stringent set of standards to its archival efforts devoted to the disparate likes of Merle Haggard, Maynard Ferguson and the Posies (and no less so in the occasional preparation and release of new content such as Americana master Peter Case). The label has rightly been recognized for its exacting approach to vault exhumations. Perhaps the most laudable of all its campaigns is the one on behalf of ...

9
Album Review

Cecil Taylor: With (Exit) To Student Studies Revisited

Read "With (Exit) To Student Studies Revisited" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Documenting the evolution of Cecil Taylor is an undertaking that is way beyond the pay grade of most listeners. Just as in the study of homo sapiens (yes, us) where there is no critical moment (the missing link) that we can definitely pinpoint where our ancestors established language, art and importantly, abstract thought, Taylor's music can be thought of in similar terms. Obviously his approach didn't emerge fully formed. Or did it? No, that is an irrational thought, but a ...

Album Review

Don Cherry: Complete Communion & Symphony for Improvisers Revisited

Read "Complete Communion & Symphony for Improvisers Revisited" reviewed by Stefano Merighi


Di fronte a questi gioielli di Don Cherry degli anni '60 che cosa si può scrivere ancora? Si può solamente invitare ad ascoltarli con orecchie ricettive e lasciarsi andare all'emozione, come scriveva Nat Hentoff nelle sue note originali per Complete Communion, senza perdere molto tempo in analisi formali poco utili. Questa edizione della collana Ezz-thetics fa scorrere per un'ora e venti minuti due opere manifesto della poetica del compositore-improvvisatore-cornettista e polistrumentista, che all'epoca coordinava organici smaglianti ...

5
Album Review

Don Cherry: Complete Communion & Symphony For Improvisers Revisited

Read "Complete Communion & Symphony For Improvisers Revisited" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Before his departure, Don Cherry was a kind of Johnny Appleseed for what would eventually be called the “New Thing" in jazz. He can be heard in the midst of the innovative work of Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Albert Ayler, Steve Lacy, Archie Shepp, and John Tchicai. Cherry's fertilizations changed the sound of creative music then and now. His explorations into (what we now call) world music opened doors for countless non- American musicians to participate in creative improvised music. ...

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Album Review

Cecil Taylor: Mixed to Unit Structures Revisited

Read "Mixed to Unit Structures Revisited" reviewed by Chris May


This story has been revisited before, in the context of an Albert Ayler review, but good stories bear repeating, particularly when they are instructive ones. So here it is again... During a May 2021 interview with All About Jazz, the reed player Shabaka Hutchings was asked to name six albums which had made a more than usually deep impression on him. One of those Hutchings chose was Cecil Taylor's Silent Tongues: Live At Montreux '74 (Freedom, 1975). “This ...

Album Review

Cecil Taylor: Mixed to Unit Structures Revisited

Read "Mixed to Unit Structures Revisited" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala


La pubblicazione di Mixed To Unit Structures, nella meritevole collana Revisited Series della Ezz-thetics, sotto-etichetta della svizzera Hat Hut, riunisce due date di registrazione importanti nella vicenda di Cecil Taylor, distribuite tra l'ottobre 1961 e il maggio 1966. La prima, composta dai tre brani “Pots," “Bulbs" e “Mixed," era stata pubblicata dall'etichetta Impulse! nel disco Into the Hot, a nome di Gil Evans. I successivi quattro pezzi costituivano il disco Unit Structures, siglato originariamente da Blue Note. ...

3
Album Review

Cecil Taylor: Mixed To Unit Structures Revisited

Read "Mixed To Unit Structures Revisited" reviewed by Mark Corroto


A listener could make it their life's work to absorb and appreciate the music the music of Cecil Taylor. One could possibly approach it as a scholar and musician through notation and transcription—not the recommended approach. Such a task would be similar to the process of systematizing a DNA sequence. Taylor's music, and pardon this analogy, might be best grasped as one might attend to the oxymoronic genre noise music. If you are still reading, allow an explanation. ...

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Video / DVD

Happy 80th, Henry Grimes

Happy 80th, Henry Grimes

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Today is Henry Grimes's 80th birthday. While Henry is known as free jazz's most eminent bassist, he also appeared on a significant number of important mainstream jazz albums earlier in his career. Henry's sound has always been strongly supportive as a time-keeper and fiery in intensity, pushing musicians to take creative risks. As Sonny Rollins notes in his forward to Barbara Frenz's new biography of Henry, Music to Silence Music, “Henry's music, the music of the man, has been such ...

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Performance / Tour

Henry Grimes - Four Days in Chicago

Henry Grimes - Four Days in Chicago

Source: Karl E. H. Seigfried

Karl performed (bass) with Henry Grimes (bass and violin) for four concerts during the Chicago Jazz Festival. Here are details from Neil Tesser's Preview: One event constitutes a miniature festival in its own right, as the resurrected New York bassist Henry Grimes returns to Chicago for a slew of performances. It's no surprise to find Grimes in town during the Festival: he spent the last several Labor Day weekends appearing in multiple contexts at the much-missed Velvet Lounge, the historic ...

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Performance / Tour

Henry Grimes and Wadada Leo Smith Offer a Rare Acoustic Duo Concert in NYC on July 10th

Henry Grimes and Wadada Leo Smith Offer a Rare Acoustic Duo Concert in NYC on July 10th

Source: Margaret Davis Grimes

On Sunday, July 10th, 2011 starting promptly at 6:30 p.m., continuing an artistic collaboration that started last October in California, two legendary and visionary musicians, Henry Grimes (upright bass, violin, poetry) and Wadada Leo Smith (trumpets), will offer a rare acoustic duo concert at Zurcher Studio, 33 Bleecker St. betw. Lafayette & Bowery one block above Houston St. and just opposite Mott St. Admission is $20 ($10 for low-income persons), phone 212-777-0790. From the late 50s throughout the 60s, after ...

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Performance / Tour

Henry Grimes's Month of 75th Birthdays at the Stone in New York City!

Henry  Grimes's  Month  of  75th Birthdays at the Stone in New York City!

Source: Just Roots PR

Acoustic bassist, violinist, and poet Henry Grimes continues his very active schedule of concerts, touring, and education with an informal month-long residency at the concert space called the Stone, northwest corner of Ave. C and 2nd St. in Manhattan, http://www.thestonenyc.com/calendar.php, playing various sets of music with many of his favorite musicians during the month. At the invitation of Stone proprietor John Zorn, Henry and Margaret Grimes curated the space for November, Henry's 75th-birthday month, and many of those booked asked ...

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Festival

Angel City Jazz Festival Opens October 2nd at REDCAT with Henry Grimes's Return to the LA Stage plus the Dwight Trible/John Beasley Duo

Angel City Jazz Festival Opens October 2nd at REDCAT  with Henry Grimes's Return to the LA Stage  plus the Dwight Trible/John Beasley Duo

Source: DL Media

Los Angeles' cutting-edge jazz celebration, the Angel City Jazz Festival, now in its third year, is pleased to open its 2010 edition with a very special return to the Los Angeles stage by Henry Grimes, the legendary “lost" bassist. Opening for Henry in this evening of astonishing music will be the Dwight Trible/John Beasley Duo, showcasing Trible's soulful vocals and Beasley's outrageous piano chops. On Saturday October 2nd, The Angel City Jazz Festival opening night event takes place at REDCAT, ...

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Recording

Henry Grimes and Rashied Ali - Spirits Aloft (Porter Records, 2010)

Henry Grimes and Rashied Ali - Spirits Aloft (Porter Records, 2010)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland

This recoding documents a live meeting between two of the legends of the “new thing" free jazz movement of the 1960's, drummer Rashied Ali, who was best known as John Coltrane's last drummer, but was also a loft jazz club entrepreneur and label owner, along with being musical pioneer and longtime band leader. Henry Grimes, playing bass and violin here, played with everyone from Sonny Rollin to Alber Ayler back during the first phase of his career, then famously dropped ...

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Event

Henry Grimes and Friends in Concert: A Benefit for Harlem Textile Works at the Black Box Theater, Harlem

Henry Grimes and Friends in Concert: A Benefit for Harlem Textile Works at the Black Box Theater, Harlem

Source: Just Roots PR

On Saturday, September 12th, ‘O9, visionary jazz musician Henry Grimes (acoustic bass, violin, voice), along with his esteemed band mates Andrew Lamb (reeds, flute, percussion) and Michael Wimberly (drums, percussion), will present a benefit concert for Harlem Textile Works at the Black Box Theatre, 3O8 West 133rd St. just east of St. Nicholas Ave. over the Morningstar Pentecostal Church, Village of Harlem, New York City.

Sets will be at 7 and 9 p.m, tickets $15 per set of music, available ...

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Event

Henry Grimes & Friends in Concert: A Benefit for Harlem Textile Works at the Black Box Theater on September 12th

Henry Grimes & Friends in Concert:  A Benefit for Harlem Textile Works at the Black Box Theater on September 12th

Source: Margaret Davis Grimes

On Saturday, September 12th, 2009, the legendary and visionary jazz musician Henry Grimes (acoustic bass, violin, voice), along with his esteemed bandmates Andrew Lamb (reeds, flute, percussion) and Michael Wimberly (drums, percussion), will present a benefit concert for Harlem Textile Works at the Black Box Theatre, 308 West 133rd St. just east of St. Nicholas Ave. over the Morningstar Pentecostal Church, Village of Harlem, New York City. Sets will be at 7 and 9 p.m, tickets $15 per set of ...

294

Performance / Tour

The Henry Grimes/ Marc Ribot Duo Live at the Rubin Museum NYC

The Henry Grimes/ Marc Ribot Duo Live at the Rubin Museum NYC

Source: Two for the Show Media

The Henry Grimes/ Marc Ribot Duo will be performing in concert at The Rubin Museum in NYC on March 27th, 2009 at 7:00PM as part of the 2009 Winter/Spring Harlem in the Himalayas Series.

Henry Grimes - Bass Marc Ribot- Guitar

Henry Grimes has played 58 concerts with the extraordinary Marc Ribot in the last five years in duo, trio, and quartet formations in 16 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, ...

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Performance / Tour

Henry Grimes & Rashied Ali at Gordon Theater Camden, NJ

Henry Grimes & Rashied Ali at Gordon Theater Camden, NJ

Source: Graziella PR

Jazz legend Henry Grimes returned to the music world in 2003 after 35 years away, will perform with world renowned drummer Rashied Ali.

Master jazz musician (acoustic bass, violin) HENRY GRIMES will perform with world renowned RASHIED ALI on Saturday, February 7, 2009 at 8 pm at Rutgers-Camden Walter K. Gordon Theater located at 3rd & Pearl Street, Camden, NJ at the base of the Ben Franklin Bridge. Free Parking in Lot 14 on 3rd Street. Tickets only $20. General ...

If only for the Ann Arbor debut of the legendary and recently rediscovered bassist Henry Grimes, the closing night of Edgefest [Oct., 'O5] would be deemed an overwhelming success. As if making up for the lost decades, Grimes, rarely playing at less than an eighth-note pace, gently prodded reedman Andrew Lamb and drummer Newman Taylor Baker through a handful of insistent yet meditative suites that found plenty of room for all three players to shine. That the trio rarely rose above a whisper didn't take away from its intensity; rather, with Grimes furnishing mantra-like foundations both with his fingers and a bow, Baker and Lamb were able to overlay their own invocations, creating an almost chamber-music-like vibe in the intimate venue

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Freedom Weaver: The...

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Reaching For The...

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2023

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With (Exit) To...

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Mixed to Unit...

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2021

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