JAZZ COMINGS, GOINGS, & RETURNS:

2003: The year in jazz (Ken Franckling, 12/25/2003, United Press International)

In a year of continuing record industry instability and jazz division shakeups, and the continuing search for more artists who might catch the public's crossover fancy, as multi-Grammy winning singer Norah Jones has done with Blue Note, most of the interesting moments and trends didn't involve recordings.

The jazz community staged a top-draw concert at Toronto's Massey Hall on May 15. It was 50 years to the night since a legendary quintet -- saxophonist Charlie Parker, pianist Bud Powell, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach -- performed at Massey Hall in what became the most storied all-star concert in the young history of bebop. It also resulted in a self-financed essential recording called "The Quintet."

Roach, the sole survivor of that 1953 all-star grouping, returned despite poor health for a "Mr. Hi-Hat" cameo solo prior to a flawless performance by five modern day all-stars: pianist Herbie Hancock, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, saxophonist Kenny Garrett, drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Dave Holland. [...]

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Benny Carter, percussionist Mongo Santamaria, cornetist Ruby Braff, singer-pianists Hadda Brooks and Nina Simone, saxophonist Teddy Edwards, trombonist Jimmy Knepper, pianist Mal Waldron, clarinetist Peanuts Hucko, flutist Herbie Mann and singer Celia Cruz were among the many jazz artists who died during 2003.

The great surprise was the re-emergence of Henry Grimes, a bass player who vanished from the scene in the late 1960s -- after working with leaders including Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus, Cecil Taylor, Miles Davis, Albert Ayler, Coleman Hawkins and Sonny Rollins. He was reported to have died in 1984. But last fall, Marshall Marrotte, a jazz fan and social worker from Georgia, found Grimes living in a single-room occupancy hotel in downtown Los Angeles. He'd been living there for some 20 years, doing odd jobs and surviving on Social Security. He'd sold his bass years ago to make ends meet.

When word got out that he was indeed alive and wanted to get back into music, New York avant-garde bassist William Parker had one of his own basses repaired and shipped to Grimes, who resumed practicing and soon began performing in the Los Angeles area. As a support network developed, Grimes returned to the New York jazz scene May 26 with a special appearance at the Vision Festival. He's been performing with increased frequency.

Glenn Dryfoos wrote a tribute to Celia Cruz and about Benny Carter on his last birthday.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 26, 2003 8:27 AM