Henry Grimes, Charles Gayle e William Parker no FIMAV de 2004
(foto: Martin Morissette)
«(...) And then there was the last-minute invitation of double-bassists William Parker and Henry Grimes with Charles Gayle on alto. Parker affectionately called them the “Emergency Replacement Band”, as they subbed for the ailing Derek Bailey, who was to play with John Zorn and Ikue Mori. The trio performed for the first time during their sound check, and the set itself served as a taster to their highly anticipated appearance a week later here in New York at the Vision Festival with the addition of two more bassists, Sirone and Alan Silva, which wound up being as overblown an affair as well. Parker played predominantly fast-paced walking pizzicato lines over Grimes' rushed arco, and the two occasionally role-swapped. Grimes' short, quick stroke technique was unrelenting, in effect removing any space or breathing room out from under the music itself. Gayle's pure, strong, spirited, and imaginative lines on alto were both harsh and warm delivered with a characteristic intense tone. He would have been much more successful, though, with one less bassist, or even as the fourth invited unaccompanied soloist to the festival. Gayle fluttered overtones that were at once slow then jumpy, but for 45 minutes there lacked any character development in the collective (an occupational hazard for many under-rehearsed avant garde ensembles); Gayle at least kept things musical and interesting as the focal point. It was the much shorter near 5-minute second number that made their set worthwhile, however, featuring a briefly unaccompanied and much more patient and resonant Grimes (...)» - Laurence Donohue-Greene.
