Henry Grimes Gets A Bass

You may have heard the great news by now that
Philadelphia~born master bassist Henry Grimes, who'd
been missing from the music world ever since the late
'6O's, had been found in good health (though pretty much
destitute) living in a single~room occupancy hotel in
South Central Los Angeles. He's been living in the
same room for the last 2O years but had long ago
sold his bass for survival needs & has since contented
himself with writing poetry, trying a bit of acting,
doing odd jobs, & surviving on Social Security. The
person who found Henry Grimes is a wonderful young
social worker & writer named Marshall Marrotte, who
himself lives in Athens, Georgia.

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 took it upon myself to stay
here & begin a month~long nationwide search for a bass
for Henry Grimes. I wrote to, called, or otherwise contacted
about 5O of the musicians Henry played & recorded with
before he disappeared, as well as many bassists in good
standing today 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 offers of 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 with
hostility. Most just didn't answer at all.

Then, just when I was beginning to despair ~ just when
I began 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, took a couple
of days to relax, began to read 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, while
Wendy Oxenhorn of New York's Jazz Foundation stood
prepared to cover shipping if needed, & was happy to learn
she could keep that money to help another musician in
need.

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 happily ever since.
In fact, he recently was heard to wish for a pickup & an
amp so he can go out to play, & the building manager
reports that if someone knocks on Henry Grimes's
door, he's been too engrossed in playing the bass to
respond.

This leads me back to those offers of donations &
benefit concerts & such. For all those who wish to
help Henry Grimes on his road 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 Henry). Henry has neither phone nor
Email.

(2) We're starting a fund at David Gage's shop so that
Henry Grimes will be able to call & order anything he
needs for his bass ~ pickup, amp, new set of strings,
a wheel, gig bag, some resin, etc. If you'd like to
contribute to this fund, please make a check to DAVID
GAGE STRING INSTRUMENT REPAIR, mark somewhere
on the check FOR ACCOUNT OF HENRY GRIMES, &
mail the check to:

Mr. Marshall Marrotte
4696 Tallassee Road
Athens, GA 3O6O7~2229.

Marshall's Email address is [email protected] .

This is so that Marshall can tabulate the amount of
the fund, & he will then immediately send the donations
on to David Gage.

(3) Those who want to send donations, letters, cards, or
gifts to Henry Grimes directly rather than through the David
Gage fund can mail them to Marshall Marrotte (as above),
& Marshall will forward them to Henry Grimes. (If you're
sending a donation via this route rather than through the
David Gage bass fund, please send a postal money order,
NOT a personal check, because Henry Grimes 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. He is a shy, gentle, very sensitive person, & we
certainly don't want to drive him back into hiding.

(4) People who want to hold or play in concerts to honor 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!

Margaret Davis
Editor & Publisher, "Art Attack!,"
the publication for & about
liberation musicians in NYC (& beyond),
on the Web at
http://www.jazznewyork.org
[email protected] .