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Bill Grimes—All that Jazz
There are certain things an individual should know about Bill Grimes. There are the obvious details like the fact that he is director of the LSU Jazz Ensemble, a professor of graduate studies for the school of music and the E.B. White Professor of Jazz Studies. But those things just skim the surface—the tip of the iceberg, as Ernest Hemingway once said—that belies the substance and breadth underneath. Grimes hates smooth jazz, yet he loves to talk about it. For a large sum of money he would play the electric bass, despite his disposition that he's too old to do so. His thoughts on sharing music illegally are somewhat mixed since he's nearly certain that no one is sharing his own works since "no one cares." And last, but certainly not least, he will react with genuine bewilderment if informed that you are not familiar with "Tower of Power" —the popular horn section who has given the world such albums as "Souled Out" and "You've Got to Funkifize." His instrument of preference is the acoustic bass, or the upright bass. For Grimes, it fits his personality, positioned just in the background, yet making it easier for others to sound good and the soloist to do what he or she does best. Yet, in some ways, it has been those occasions when he steps out front that he has had the largest impact.  When Grimes first came back to Baton Rouge in 1984 to become the first jazz teacher in the LSU School of Music, he found that jazz was on the back burner in a city hardly an hour away from the art form's supposed "mecca." Together with some of his peers, Grimes helped form the Jazz Society five years later, bringing the demand for jazz back to Baton Rouge. Al Batiste, a legendary figure of jazz in Louisiana, credited the group for their impact. "It's almost like a Renaissance," Batiste said in a 1990 interview. "The Jazz Society is incredible. The thing that is so impressive to me is this jazz club started off on a contemporary note. It is in a stance to be part of history and at the same time encourage musicians in the contemporary environment." Arguably, Grimes is accomplishing the same on his own as an educator. Armed with a mental jazz encyclopedia that would make Ken Burns blush and a multi-disc changer, Grimes not only lectures his students on the ins and outs of jazz, he blasts their senses with it in a classroom containing a sound system he designed himself. "Sometimes when you teach these big classes, it helps to be an evangelist," Grimes said. "The tough part is getting in front of a crowd and convincing them that I like something I don't. So I try to stay away from those parts.
"I was conducting the orchestra when Randy Newman came (to LSU) in March. To work with an artist of his magnitude was such a thrill, but it's not the same as the thrill you get from a great teaching day. The other day in the Rec Center, a student came up to me and said, 'I took your class last semester and I just went to a Herbie Hancock concert and it was great.'" Grimes began playing when he was 12 years old. In 1966, his dad gave him an old Stan Kenton record that he didn't care for and Grimes fell in love with it. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Since then, his arrangements have been performed across the country in venues from New Orleans to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He's recorded several albums and performed with jazz greats, not stars mind you, but greats, like Phil Woods, Joe Pass, and Carl Fontana. His main performance outlet these days is the annual "Hot Summer Nights and Cool Jazz" series at LSU. He spends a lot of his time with administrative duties, "shepherding" students through their degrees. But to compare the two he says, is like trying to decide which you like more, red wine or raquetball? They're both highly enjoyable but completely different.  Still, one thing hasn't changed, and that is his passion for jazz. Be it performing on the bandstand or lecturing to a roomful of students who don't know Louis Armstrong from Louis Anderson, Grimes brings the same energy to whatever he does, especially where his craft is involved. "I think it's a cyclical thing," Grimes was quoted as saying in a 1989 interview. "Jazz will always be around. Awareness and activity will wax and wane as trends come and go, but the heart of the music will always stay with us because it's art music that endures. "We're not going to lose this music. It will never be obsolete." Contact Josh Duplechain | LSU
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