String bassist John Levy screened a videotape of the Soundies by Tiny Grimes in March 2001, then gave me a call. Almost incredulous, John said, “If you were to just tell me I was on these films, I would have said ‘no way’ … until I saw them. Now, I was pretty busy back then, and I have no recollection of the job or the recording or the filming.” Such was the ephemeral nature of Soundies for many of the musicians who made them: A couple of day’s pay for a couple of day’s work, then move on. The fact that John did not recall pianist Ernie Washington or drummer Emmanuel Sims suggests that Tiny assembled an ad hoc combo just for these films. Still, John admitted that this could have been a short-lived group that only played a handful of club dates in Manhattan.
Tiny Grimes was a very important musician who helped bridge the gap between swing and bebop. Recordings with Charlie Shavers and Coleman Hawkins were balanced with others that featured Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Grimes had worked with the Cats and the Fiddle in 1941, then spent time with Art Tatum. Any musician who worked alongside Tatum would have to have been a strong technician as well as inventive soloist. Throughout the 1940s Grimes worked and recorded regularly, mostly in New York City, and when I saw him at the West End in the late 1970s, he was still a swinging up a storm.
Paul Bascomb, featured on tenor sax, plays in the extroverted style often referred to as “Texas Tenor.” Bascomb was a featured soloist with Erskine Hawkins for many years and was active in jazz up to his passing in 1946. John Levy was a highly respected string bass player who was asked to anchor the rhythm section on dozens of recordings in the 1940s. He worked with George Shearing in 1951, after which he laid down the bass and became a personal manager, the first African-American in the field. Levy could claim to have helped guide the careers of George Shearing, Nancy Wilson, Cannonball Adderley, Joe Williams, and many others.
“Never Too Old to Swing” was written by Tiny Grimes and is fairly typical of small group swing tunes of the period, although the release is unusual and a very pleasant surprise. Grimes’s solo includes the long single-note melodic lines that are characteristic of his work. This solo is a fine piece of improvisation, and is the type of improvised melody that one could easily memorize and sing along with.
All four of the 1945 Tiny Grimes Soundies are strong and are among the best small group shorts from the mid 1940s. Sit back, enjoy, and take the lyrics to heart.