musicmargaret

"So did anyone go to the Whitney retrospective?" I'm not sure whether you mean anyone from this group (seems that a lot of them never go anywhere) or whether you meant anyone in the world. Just in case you meant the latter, I asked performance curator Amanda Davis about this, and she said attendance for Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley was 750 (all tickets sold out), and average attendance for all other events, of which there have been many, sometimes a half-dozen a day, has been around 300. "Second concert now scheduled" is a solo Cecil Taylor concert tonight (April 23rd) at 8:30 p.m. Not sure what "I saw an article on Cecil's appearance at the retrospective, but that was it for me" means, but if you're referring to a perceived lack of press coverage, if you do a Google search on "Cecil Taylor residency Whitney Museum," almost 7,000 links come up, including "JazzTimes," "Jazziz," "The Wire," a lovely article by Larry Blumenfeld on his blog, blouinartinfo.com, brilliantly entitled "Storming Places, Like He's Always Done," "The New York Times," "BeatDown" [oops], and as the King of Siam used to say, et-cetera, et-cetera, et-cetera.

Does anyone have any contact information for Gambit?

Is anyone out here realizing that the surviving musicians and their families are receiving nothing of the proceeds from these sales, while DMG and the Movie Gold people (whoever they are) are once again laughing all the way to the bank? Henry Grimes is on two of these recordings. Shall we assume the checks are in the mail?

There will be a memorial celebration of the life and music of Pete LaRoca Sims on Friday, Dec. 28th, 2O12 at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, 619 Lexington Ave. at 54th St., Manhattan (NYC), 212-935-22OO, <http://www.saintpeters.org>, <jtarbet@saintpeters.org>, suggested donation $25. Invited players include Carl Allen, Joanne Brackeen, George Cables, Charles Davis, Henry Grimes, Slide Hampton, Louis Hayes, Bill Kirchner, Steve Kuhn, Dave Liebman, Jimmy Owens, Larry Ridley, Lew Tabackin, David Weiss, Michael Weiss, et al., suggested donation $25. Subways: E or M train to Lexington Ave. & 53rd St., or 6 train to 51st St. and Lexington, or 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R trains to 59th St. & Lexington. Buses: M57 and M31 to Lexington Ave. and 57th St., or M5O bus to Lexington Ave. & 5Oth St. or 49th St., or M1O1 and 1O3 buses south on Lexington Ave. or north on Third Ave. to 54th St. Google area map: http://tinyurl.com/cpzoffg.

If you go to a Google search box and enter "Rudy Van Gelder studio" and then click on "images" on the left-hand side of the next screen near the top, some 44,OOO photos will come up. Most of them are just album covers and such, but there are some interior shots.

"Does anyone know how to join the Cecil Taylor yahoo list?" http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/CTResearch Send an Email to CTResearch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. It's pretty much dormant, though.

A couple of items of interest for Cecil Taylorites: > New CT site (as of February, '11): http://www.ceciltaylor-art.com > Cecil Taylor residency at Le Poisson Rouge (formerly the Village Gate) in NYC this coming June: http://lepoissonrouge.com/events/search?q=cecil four Tuesdays in June "poetry, solo piano, and many surprise guests"

Allen, first, what recent recordings by Henry Grimes have you heard? There is a list at http://www.henrygrimes.com/CDs-books.html. Secondly, here you're asking whether Henry can still "really play with the depth, freedom, and precision he used to," (yes, he can, and more), and you're asking to read someone's "good musical analysis," and on another page you're asking whether Henry can still play changes (yes, he can, if he wants to and the situation requires it). Last I heard, you were living in the wilds of Maine, so maybe you don't get to any concerts, but when and if you do make it to a Henry Grimes concert (and there've been more than 4OO since mid-2OO3), maybe you can answer your own questions, and maybe you can even write a "good musical analysis." Maybe...

"Can Grimes still play changes?" Why don't you come to some Henry Grimes concerts? He certainly can if he wants to and if the situation calls for it. Try watching this YouTube video of Henry playing the standard "I'll Get By As Long as I Have You" with Marc Ribot and Chad Taylor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ida-I_g3Hg. But why do people like you always want to impose the "playing changes" test on great improvisers who've long since gone beyond that? This is like asking someone to prove he can write poetry by reciting the alphabet. By the way, here are three upcoming Henry Grimes events for those who are genuinely interested and are near NYC or Cleveland: Thursday, Feb. 17th, music from 8 p.m: The Roscoe Mitchell Quartet w/ Dave Burrell, Henry Grimes, and Tani Tabbal (preceded by Roscoe Mitchell & David Wessel duo), at Roulette, 2O Greene St. betw. Canal & Grand St's, New York City, 212-219-8242, http://www.roulette.org/events/upcoming, roulette@roulette.org; and Thursday, March 17th, 6-8 p.m. (pre-event reception at 5:3O): Henry Grimes in panel discussion with interdisciplinary scholars about Albert Ayler, at Case Western Reserve University, Thwing Center Ballroom, 11111 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio, free and open to the public, registration recommended, 216-368-266O, http://tinyurl.com/3y6bcmo, info@music.case.edu, thwing@case.edu. This event is held in conjunction with Marc Ribot’s Spiritual Unity playing music by and for Albert Ayler at the Cleveland Museum of Art the next day: Friday, March 18th, 2O11, 7:3O p.m: Marc Ribot & Spiritual Unity, w/ Roy Campbell, Jr., Henry Grimes, and Chad Taylor, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1115O East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio, 216-421-734O, -735O, http://www.clevelandart.org, http://tinyurl.com/3379jh5, info@clevelandart.org. Later in March, there will also be concerts in Detroit and Chicago, details to be announced. And Henry's Web site is here: http://www.henrygrimes.com. I probably should have posted these events somewhere else on Organissimo, but I can't seem to find where. Advice on that, anyone? Also, I tried to attach a photo, but it just isn't working, but here's a beautiful high-res photo of Henry taken in January by Pete Gannushkin (downtownmusic.net): http://www.henrygrimes.com/Photos/GrimesHenryByPGannushkin2011.jpg.

"It should have been Henry Grimes" ... Henry played in the Guelph Jazz Festival (Ontario) that night. But thanks!

About the ugly slap at Henry Grimes by "MomsMobley" (above), maybe YOU wouldn't hire him, but these days Roscoe Mitchell hires him, Marc Ribot hires him, Fred Anderson hired him up until the end, Cecil Taylor has hired him seven times in the past few years, and so many other great musicians continue to hire him, and in turn, Henry has hired Rashied Ali, Marshall Allen, Fred Anderson, Marilyn Crispell, Andrew Cyrille, Bill Dixon, Edward "Kidd" Jordan, David Murray, William Parker, and many more in the past few years. Marc Ribot called Henry the Cecil Taylor of the bass, and Roscoe Mitchell said that Henry is among the greatest improvisers living in the world today (and he has known a few), and Roscoe also called Henry's playing "exquisite." Of course, in your not-so-humble opinion, they're all crazy and don't have any idea what they're doing. But you go right on not hiring Henry Grimes, okay? Somehow he'll muddle through without you.

Hello, all. I'm not so sure the Velvet Lounge is "gone forever." 67 East Cermak Road, where it was last housed, is empty now, and nature abhors a vacuum, and since Fred's family isn't using it and nobody else is using it, maybe, just maybe, the brilliant, powerful, beautiful people of the Velvet Birdhouse Coalition will bring it back to life. Let's hope so! And if not, maybe the Velvet can reopen at another location. Meanwhile, as "thedwork" wrote, "knowing the creativity, motivation, spirit, and respectful nature of the current group of creative artists in the chicago scene i'd bet that they'll pull something good out of this bad event," and the Coalition is doing that, presenting concerts in the spirit of Fred Anderson in various places around Chicago, and that's a very fine thing. And there's a grand event planned for Fred's birthday date, March 22nd, at another historic Chicago jazz site. I'll leave it to the Velvet Birdhouse Coalition people to put out the word when they're ready. Viva Fred Anderson, his music, his spirit, and his truth!

Before playing, Henry Grimes read to the audience this tribute at the Rashied Ali memorial celebration at the Clef Club of Philadelphia on October 25th, 2OO9: "Rashied Ali was one of the most creative and exciting musicians ever to come on the scene. To play music with him was to rejoice in the exhilarating rhythms he contributed to the music of our time, and his. We hope that more and more, the world will come to recognize the tremendous artistic gifts Rashied Ali has given us. "We have come to a time and a feeling of last days with the demise of so many of our brothers and sisters in the music and in the literary world. I was fortunate enough to share in the last days of brother Rashied Ali. We came out of each other’s beings and had the opportunity to work on some music in a short time, and in that time we became friends, a rare occurrence in these times. The music we produced in that short period was truly inspiring -- gigging in upstate New York at Hamilton College, in Camden, New Jersey at Rutgers, in Philadelphia and New York City, and in some other places. We also began to do some recording, which is some serious work to accomplish. "It was very inspiring to play with this brother. I knew him when he used to work with Mr. Coltrane during the ‘6O’s, when he worked a little with me also and with other groups at that time. Before Rashied left us, it looked like the ‘6O’s were coming back for a while. "Now I hope people will be able to have some experience with the musical legacy of our friend Rashied Ali. His music, his knowledge, and his charm will continue to reach people everywhere. Rashied Ali knew how to cause music to have life and give life. "Peace, salaam alaikum, and love, "Henry Grimes" << >> << >> < <> > In the past two years, Rashied and Henry had a great duo collaboration going. They recorded "Going to the Ritual" in duo up at the WKCR studios on March 2Oth, 'O7, and that's out on Porter Records (#PRCD-4OO5, 2OO8), with their second duo recording, "Spirits Aloft," now in post-production. Rashied also played six other concerts with Henry between 'O7 and 'O9: * April 21, 'O7, duo, Brecht Forum, NYC; * June 19, 'O7, Vision Festival, NYC, trio with Marilyn Crispell; * January 29-31, 'O9, duo residency, workshops, and concert at Hamilton College of Performing Arts, Clinton, NY; * February 7, 'O9, duo, Rutgers U., Camden, NJ; * June 19, 'O9, duo, Middle Collegiate Church, NYC; and * June 21, 'O9, duo at West Oak Lane Festival, Philadelphia. Even though Henry and Rashied were around the same age and were both born and raised in Philadelphia, they had only recorded together once before 2OO7, and that was in 1965 on Archie Shepp's album "On This Night" on Impulse!. The others in that group were Bobby Hutcherson, J. C. Moses, Joe Chambers, Ed Blackwell, and Christine Spencer. http://www.henrygrimes.com Rashied Ali (left) and Henry Grimes (right), photo by Michael Lowe

Well, that's not Kori Withers, folks. I'll try to attach a photo of Kori Withers. Also, I forgot to mention that there's an incredibly thrilling documentary around from a festival in Zaire in 1974; it's called "Soul Power," and it stars Muhammad Ali (talking some heavyweight truth), James Brown, Celia Cruz, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Bill Withers, and many more. The scene at the beginning would cause extreme consternation among airline personnel if it took place today! You can read about the film and find out where it's playing at www.sonyclassics.com/soulpower/site.html.

Hello, all. I just wanted to let you all know that there's a recent interview with Bill Withers in audio and as a transcript at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7236327. And there's a documentary film out now called "Still Bill"; see http://stillbillthemovie.com; the screening schedule is at http://stillbillthemovie.com/screenings; there's also an unusual marketing technique being used to present the film -- you can host your own screenings! And... you can also buy the DVD: http://stillbillthemovie.com/dvd. Here's what the promoters say about "Still Bill": STILL BILL is an intimate portrait of soul legend Bill Withers, best known for his classics “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me,” “Lovely Day,” “Grandma’s Hands,” and “Just the Two of Us.” With his soulful delivery and warm, heartfelt sincerity, Withers has written the songs that have – and always will – resonate deeply within the fabric of our times. Filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack follow Withers and offer a unique and rare look inside the world of this fascinating man. Through concert footage, journeys to his birthplace, interviews with music legends, his family and closest friends, STILL BILL presents the story of an artist who has written some of the most beloved songs in our time and who truly understands the heart and soul of a man. (I might add that he just may truly understand the heart and soul of more than one woman too.)