When Marshall Marrotte found Henry Grimes, Henry told him that he very much wished he had a bass so he could start playing again. Here we have a supreme master musician who went to Juilliard, who recorded & played brilliantly with musicians as diverse as ALBERT AYLER, DON CHERRY, BENNY GOODMAN, ROY HAYNES, LEE KONITZ, STEVE LACY, CHARLES MINGUS (yes, Charles Mingus), SUNNY MURRAY, PERRY ROBINSON, SONNY ROLLINS, PHAROAH SANDERS, ARCHIE SHEPP, CECIL TAYLOR, CHARLES TYLER, McCOY TYNER, REV. FRANK WRIGHT, & many more. For me, a planet where the great Henry Grimes does not have a bass is not a place I want to be, & being unprepared for space travel at this time, I decided to stay here & begin a month~long nationwide search for a bass for him. I wrote to, called, or otherwise contacted about 5O of the musicians he played &/ or recorded with before he disappeared, as well as many bassists who would know him as a music hero even if he was before their time. I put particular concentration on the West Coast because shipping a bass is a big expense in itself, & I also thought the Western music community would want the opportunity to gather around him, & I thought it would be easy especially for those connected with academia or major cultural institutions out West to hook him up with practice space & an instrument to play, at the very least. So with Marshall Marrotte's approval, I put the word out far & wide, & then we waited for a bass for Henry Grimes.
For quite a while, nobody moved.
Slowly a few people began to say they'd be willing to do something ~ make a donation, hold or play in a benefit concert, contribute a bow ~ kind, good offers, but not a bass for Henry Grimes to play. A couple of afflicted souls responded negatively, cynically, or even with hostility. Most just didn't answer at all.
Then, just when I was beginning to despair, to question my lifelong belief in the term “music community" as something more than a concept or an ideal, but as an actual living entity that embraces & sustains its own ~ the great WILLIAM PARKER came home to New York City from another of his tours, got around to reading his accumulated Emails, & called me up to say he would send a bass & a bow to Henry Grimes. First he wanted New York's great bass specialist David Gage to make a small repair, & then David's shop would build a shipping crate for the bass & arrange & pay for the shipping. One of David Gage's employees, a bassist called Sprocket, even put up $1OO of his own money to help with shipping costs.
Henry Grimes received the bass William Parker named Olive Oil (more, I think, due to the greenish tinge of her finish than for Popeye's girlfriend) on December 16th, 2OO2. We've been in touch with Henry, & he is ecstatic to have Olive Oil & has been practicing hard ever since. & after only a few months with Olive Oil, Henry Grimes has begun to emerge from his room. He's been practicing with several area musicians, played two concerts with NELS & ALEX CLINE at Billy Higgins's World Stage earlier this month followed by two more at the Howling Monk in Inglewood, CA on April 18th & 19th, has been teaching improvisation part~time at a local high school, & is scheduled to play as special guest in New York City's great Vision Festival in May. ANDREW CYRILLE, PHAROAH SANDERS, & REGGIE WORKMAN visited with Henry at a local club called the Jazz Bakery recently & were overjoyed to see him again & to find him in such good physical & emotional shape. Meanwhile, donations of bass supplies, as well as individual financial gifts, have been accumulating slowly but steadily at David Gage's shop, where Henry is able to order any bass supplies he wants for Olive Oil, & bassist MARK DRESSER recently made a delivery directly from David Gage's shop to Henry Grimes.
This leads me back to those offers of donations & benefit concerts & such. Henry Grimes still lives in the same tiny room in poverty, so for all those who'd like a chance to help him on his path back into the music, here are some suggestions:
(1) If you were a close friend, band mate, or family member of Henry Grimes, please contact me or Marshall Marrotte & we will give you Henry's address (subject to prior agreement from him). Henry has neither phone nor Email. We are not giving out his address to strangers or press people at this time.
(2) To contribute to the fund at David Gage's shop, please make a check to DAVID GAGE STRING INSTRUMENT REPAIR, mark somewhere on it FOR ACCOUNT OF HENRY GRIMES, & mail the check to: Mr. Marshall Marrotte, 4696 Tallassee Road, Athens, GA 3O6O7~2229. (Should you need it, Marshall's Email address is (3) Those who want to send donations, letters, cards, or gifts to Henry Grimes directly rather than to the David Gage fund can mail them to Marshall Marrotte (see item 2 above), & Marshall will forward them to Henry Grimes. If you're sending in a donation via this route rather than through the David Gage bass fund, please send a postal money order, NOT a check, because Henry does not have a bank account. Marshall Marrotte has been serving selflessly as Henry's mentor & protector through all this, & we are being careful not to overwhelm Henry with strangers & fuss, so that he has time to work on playing at his own pace & can make his way back into the music when & as he wishes. (4) People who want to hold or play in benefit concerts for Henry Grimes, please go ahead & do so! Some of us are planning such a concert here in New York, & I think it will be huge & very, very beautiful. Whether Henry Grimes will attend or participate will be entirely up to him. Meanwhile, funds raised can be handled the same ways as described above. Thanks to all for caring! In love & music,
Margaret Davis
Editor & Publisher, “Art Attack!,"
http://www.jazznewyork.org
For more information contact All About Jazz.
