There is a fine line between self-emancipation and existential oblivion, as the life of Henry Grimes and the poems of SIGNS ALONG THE ROAD clearly illustrate. A master bassist who played with the likes of Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk and Gerry Mulligan, he also sent tremors through the free-jazz world with the definitive style of his bass work in pioneering ESP recordings by the Albert Ayler Group. And then came his free fall through the oft-cited but virtually nonexistent "social network."...
