The Life And Death (And Life Again) Of Henry Grimes

Posted by D.A. Gutierrez in History, News

July 21st, 2010   No Comments »

Bassist, Henry Grimes in 2005

Bassist Henry Grimes in 2005. PHOTO CREDIT: Wikipedia / Seth Tisue

Six days and counting – so much to say, so little time. Where to start?

Kickstarter.com is a website that allows people to post causes and take donations from others who support the same. It’s breathed life into tons of worthy projects that would have never seen the light of day otherwise.

Recently a cause came to my attention that will be of interest to Jazzville, NJ readers. But there are only six days to go before the time allotted for funding runs out.

Once upon a time there was a bassist named Henry Grimes who worked with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Albert Ayler and countless other jazz greats. He played the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 when he was only 22. In short, he was going places. But then in 1969, he mysteriously disappeared and was presumed dead. An obituary even ran for him in Cadence magazine in 1984.

However, in 2003 Marshall Marrotte, a social worker and jazz fan (who could easily double as a private eye) found Grimes living in Los Angeles, nearly destitute and without a bass to play.

This roller coaster of a life story is now the focus of a film-in-progress by writer/director Hank Cherry entitled The Life and Death and Life of Henry Grimes for which he is seeking funding.

The filmmaker is generously offering different premiums to those who pledge financial support for the film. So why not head over to Kickstarter to read more about this project and help bring to life what is sure to be a fantastic film? You can pledge anywhere from a mere $5 to as much as $2000.

By the way, Mr. Grimes is now back to jamming on the jazz trail, recently returning from a European tour. You can read more about his amazing life story on Wikipedia.