Public Programs And Events

We are proud to welcome legendary bassist Henry Grimes to the New School.

In the 1950s and ‘60s, after receiving his music education at the Mastbaum School in Philadelphia and at the Juilliard School in New York City, HENRY GRIMES (upright bass, violin, poetry) played acoustic bass with many master jazz musicians of that era, including Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Haynes, Steve Lacy, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, Sunny Murray, Sonny Rollins, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, and McCoy Tyner.  Sadly, a trip to the West Coast to work with Al Jarreau and Jon Hendricks went awry, leaving Henry in downtown Los Angeles at the end of the ‘60s with a broken bass he couldn’t pay to repair, so he sold it for a small sum and faded away from the music world.  Without a bass, a vehicle, or a telephone, he was truly lost. But many years later, in 2002, he was discovered there by a Georgia social worker and fan and was given a bass by William Parker, and after only a few weeks of ferocious woodshedding, Henry emerged from his room to begin playing around Los Angeles, and made a triumphant return to New York City in 2OO3 to play in the Vision Festival. 

Since then, Henry has played nearly 600 concerts (including many festivals) in 30 countries, playing, recording, and touring with many of this era’s music heroes, such as Rashied Ali, Marshall Allen, Fred Anderson, Marilyn Crispell, Andrew Cyrille, Bill Dixon, Edward “Kidd” Jordan, Roscoe Mitchell, Louis Moholo, David Murray, Zim Ngqawana, William Parker, Marc Ribot, Wadada Leo Smith, and once again, Cecil Taylor.  At the age of 70, Henry made his professional debut beside Mr.  Taylor at Lincoln Center on a second instrument, the violin (which had been Henry's first instrument as a child).  Mr. Grimes has seen the publication of the first volume of his poetry, Signs Along the Road, and creates illustrations to accompany his new recordings and publications. 

He has received many honors in recent years, including four Meet the Composer grants, and has also held a number of  residencies and has given workshops and master classes on many major campuses.  He can be heard on some 90 recordings, including a dozen recent ones, on various labels.  Henry Grimes has been a permanent  resident of New York City since 2003. 

 http://henrygrimes.com

Eyes of the Masters series is a special class presented by the School of Jazz, where legendary artists share their experiences, knowledge and insights into the world of music both as an art form and as a career.

All the sessions are free and open to the public.