Lloyd “Tiny” Grimes broke into the music business by playing tenor guitar with the vocal quartet The Cats and the Fiddle during the early 1940s. In 1943 he joined forces with virtuoso pianist Art Tatum and bassist Slam Stewart in the powerhouse Art Tatum Trio.
He is probably most well known for a few sides he recorded as a bandleader for the Savoy label in 1944 with a young sideman named Charlie Parker.
This session from 1946 finds Tiny recording for the Blue Note label. This blazingly fast rendition of “Flying Home”, a relaxed Benny Goodman/Lionel Hampton small combo composition from 1939, shows both the growing influence of bop and R&B on Tiny’s playing. The extended solos meant the track had to be divided into two parts to fit on a 10″ 78 rpm record – which could only hold a little over three minutes of music per side.
Here, I’ve put both parts together – the transition happens around the 3:00 mark.
0:00 Intro
0:34 Trombone solo (Young)
1:24 Tenor Sax solo (Hardee)
2:14 Piano solo (Morris)
3:03 Guitar solo (Grimes)
4:18 Ensemble
While his choice of composition and some aspects of his playing clearly drew inspiration from Charlie Christian, the accelerated tempo and virtuosic solos show the influence of bebop.
Recorded in New York City on August 14th, 1946.
Released as Blue Note 524.
Credits:
Trummy Young – trombone
John Hardee – tenor sax
Marlowe Morris – piano
Tiny Grimes – guitar
Jimmy Butts – bass
Eddie Nicholson – drums
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