Bassist Henry Grimes returns to jazz

Like a phoenix rising from ashes, bassist Henry Grimes has reappeared on the jazz scene after 30 years of absence. Grimes was at the forefront in the cutting-edge free jazz and avant-garde jazz movement of the ’50s and ’60s. His career reads like a who’s who, performing with jazz heavy hitters of the era: Benny Goodman, Sonny Rollins, Lee Konitz, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders and Albert Ayler. Grimes had recorded on more than 50 albums, earning a reputation at the time as one of the new star bass players. After moving to the West Coast in the late ’60s, Grimes had a difficult time finding work. To add to his woes, he had to sell his bass because he was unable to afford its repairs.

Henry Grimes Trio plays at the Madame Walker Theatre on Friday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m.

After 30 years of survival jobs, he was given a bass by fellow bassist William Parker in 2002 that launched his return to the jazz scene. Grimes, now in his 60s, returned to New York, performing at clubs like the Iridium and wowing the jazz audiences by still playing with brilliant intensity after all of this time. Henry Grimes is now touring the nation in an outstanding trio with saxophonist/ flutist Andrew Lamb and drummer/percussionist Newman Taylor Baker. The Henry Grimes Trio will perform in concert at the Madame Walker Theatre Center Friday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m.

Opening act will be the blues, jazz, hip-hop fusion style of Is What. This concert is part of the Mythopeic Jazz Heritage Series, www.mythopeic.org. Admission is $10.

• The Fountain Square Theatre, 1105 Prospect St., Friday Night Swing Dance Oct. 28 will feature the Blue Thunder Big Band playing 8:30 to 11:30 p.m.

• The Buselli Wallarab Jazz Orchestra will open its 2005-’06 concert season at the Indiana History Center’s Frank and Katrina Basile Theater Sunday, Oct. 30. The BWJO will perform “Heart & Soul: The Music of Hoagy Carmichael.” Featured vocalists will be Cynthia Layne and Everett Greene. Performances are at 2 and 7 p.m.

• Always on Tuesdays: Café @ Ray, 946 S. Meridian St., Gregg Bacon, sax/flute, James Simmons, guitar/keyboards, music 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Retrospective jazz

Over the past week, I checked out some outstanding jazz performances around town. On Monday, Oct. 17 at the Jazz Kitchen, powerful bassist Buster Williams bounced in with a smoking quartet of heavy players. With Stefon Harris on vibes, George Colligan, piano, and Lenny White, drums, this hard-charging group got down to business from the start. Harris is an animated monster on vibes with his speed-constructive melodic technique. The quartet was especially cohesive on the ballad “Triumphant Dance of the Butterfly.”

Last Saturday, lyricist/singer Lorraine Feather made her Indy debut at the Jazz Kitchen. The daughter of the legendary was a witty knockout. Equally impressive was her pianist/ composer Shelly Berg, with his highly energetic style that is as equally comfortable doing breakneck straight-ahead tempos in the trio’s opening set, as playing terrific stride piano style behind Feather’s ’30s hip style vocalese. From her opening outrageous lyrics based on a Fats Waller tune, she labeled “You’re Outta Here” to the romantic poignancy of her words on Duke Ellington’s “Creole Love Call,” which she renamed “Love Call.” Feather took us back in time to the future with her clever and sophisticated lyrics and style. Frank Smith’s bass and Jesse Nolan’s drums supplied strong sympathetic support.

Progressions
100 Years of Jazz Guitar
Columbia Legacy

If you are a lover of or student of the jazz guitar, this monumental work from Columbia Legacy Records is a must. This four-disc set covers 78 artists that helped shape the jazz evolvement of guitar from 1906 to 2001. From the ragtime banjo of Voss Freeman to Bill Frissell’s translucent chords, every major player’s style is represented. The scope of this guitar anthology is immense, culled from 33 labels, including a 148 page book of photos, guitar models, amps and all of that guitar music.

Rating 5: The definitive audio textbook anthology on the jazz guitar.