[Dixielandjazz] Fw: Henry Grimes & Olive Oil

[Vilcad (Ron Gable)]

FYI



Ron & Rosemary Gable
Jazz Advocates & Jazz
Writer for Impact Weekly
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Join the Advocate Movement
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Margaret Davis" <musicmargaret at earthlink.net
Sent: Monday, January 20, 2003 2:07 PM
Subject: Henry Grimes & Olive Oil


Dear space denizens,

Back in December, a few of the list participants  (Michael Fitzgerald, John
Chacona, Nick Wrigley, & friends) posted messages about the rediscovery of
master bassist Henry Grimes, who had disappeared from the music world more
than 3O years ago.  At that time, I promised to post a little report about
him as soon as I cleared it with someone very deeply involved in the story,
& I've done that now.  So here is some amazing reading for you on what feels
to me a very appropriate day, the great national holiday honoring Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.

Last fall I received the great news that Henry Grimes 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 Julliard, 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, McCoy Tyner, & 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!

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 kennedymarrotte at hotmail.com.

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 to the David Gage fund can mail them to Marshall
Marrotte (as above), & Marshall will forward them to Henry Grimes.  Marshall
has been serving 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
musicmargaret at earthlink.net