20 Facts About Henry Grimes

Henry Grimes was an American jazz double bassist and violinist.

Henry Grimes was often presumed to have died, but he was discovered in 2002 and returned to performing.

Henry Alonzo Grimes was born in Philadelphia, to parents who both had been musicians in their youth.

Henry Grimes took up the violin at the age of 12, and then began playing tuba, English horn, percussion, finally switching to the double bass at Mastbaum Technical High School.

Henry Grimes furthered his musical studies at Juilliard and established a reputation as a versatile bassist by the mid-1950s.

Henry Grimes recorded or performed with pianist Lennie Tristano and saxophonists Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan and Sonny Rollins, pianists Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner, singer Anita O'Day, clarinetist Benny Goodman and many others.

When bassist Charles Mingus was experimenting with a second bass player in his band, Henry Grimes was the person he selected for the job.

Henry Grimes was 22 years old, and as word spread among the musicians about his extraordinary playing, he ended up playing with six different groups in the festival that weekend: those of Benny Goodman, Lee Konitz, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Sonny Rollins, and Tony Scott.

Gradually growing interested in the burgeoning free jazz movement, Henry Grimes performed with most of the music's important names, including pianist Cecil Taylor, trumpeter Don Cherry, saxophonists Steve Lacy, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, and Albert Ayler.

Henry Grimes released one album, The Call, as a trio leader for the ESP-Disk record label in 1966.

Henry Grimes had fallen out of touch with the jazz world and was unaware Albert Ayler had died in 1970 but was eager to perform again.

Henry Grimes's return was featured in The New York Times and on National Public Radio.

Henry Grimes received a returning hero's welcome at the free jazz-oriented Vision Festival, and began teaching lessons and workshops for bassists.

Also in 2007, Henry Grimes recorded with drummer Rashied Ali, with whom he played a half-dozen duo concerts and a trio with Marilyn Crispell, and in 2008 with Paul Dunmall and Andrew Cyrille, a co-leader trio called the Profound Sound Trio, among others.

Henry Grimes played with Ben Morea, accompanying simultaneous slide and film projections by Aldo Tambellini and sound recordings of the late Calvin Hernton's radical poetry.

Henry Grimes released or played on a dozen new recordings, made his professional debut on a second instrument at Cecil Taylor's side at Lincoln Center at the age of 70, and had been creating illustrations to accompany his new recordings and publications.

Henry Grimes received many honors in recent years, including four Meet the Composer grants.

Henry Grimes was a resident of New York City and had a busy schedule of performances, clinics, and international tours.

Henry Grimes stopped performing in 2018, with the relentless progression of the effects of Parkinson's disease causing severe disabilities.

Henry Grimes died on April 15,2020, at the age of 84 from complications of COVID-19.