Bad news. It was liver cancer which took him out, too — not "the virus."
I love his work with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers around 1960 and 1961, just after Wayne Shorter joined. And look at the company he kept: Chet Baker, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie… Right up there with the best. His excursions into composition with harmonic innovation are fascinating, too. He also introduced the electric bass into hard bop. What a great, though largely unsung musician !
Jymie Merritt had a good, long and fruitful life: now may he rest in peace.
I love his work with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers around 1960 and 1961, just after Wayne Shorter joined. And look at the company he kept: Chet Baker, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie… Right up there with the best. His excursions into composition with harmonic innovation are fascinating, too. He also introduced the electric bass into hard bop. What a great, though largely unsung musician !
Jymie Merritt had a good, long and fruitful life: now may he rest in peace.
