Articles

Jymie Merritt: Dedication Personified

by Victor L. Schermer
July 21, 2009

Jymie Merritt came up in Philadelphia during the evolution of bebop and hard bop, when the town was a hotbed of musical activity. Players like John Coltrane, Benny Golson, and Philly Joe Jones were getting started there, and musicians like Charlie Parker, J.J. Johnson, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis would come to the city to perform and to mentor them.

Merritt soon spread his “on the road" wings with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, including some memorable ...

Relentless Groove: The Life of Jymie Merritt

by Christopher Slone
June 27, 2009

Over the past fifty years there have been many stalwarts who've directed the course of jazz, but none is more deserving of tribute than Jymie Merritt. Although he has been unjustly under-recognized, his muscular bass playing has anchored many of this music's most prestigious ensembles, and in the process, he has helped to shape the genre as it has evolved.Born in Philadelphia in 1926, Jymie began his musical journey playing the tenor saxophone while a teenager. However, this ...