Tiny Grimes ranks among the first jazz electric guitarists shaped by Charlie Christian, yet he forged a distinctive swinging approach of his own. At the outset he played drums before taking jobs as a pianist in Washington. He adopted the electric guitar in 1938 and, two years afterward, joined the popular jive ensemble the Cats and the Fiddle. Between 1943 and 1944 he belonged to the celebrated Art Tatum Trio alongside Slam Stewart. In September 1944 he directed his debut recording session, which enlisted Charlie Parker; the results featured the instrumental “Red Cross” and Grimes’s own vocal on “Romance Without Finance (Is a Nuisance).” He cut further sides for Blue Note in 1946 before assembling the R&B-focused unit “the Rockin’ Highlanders,” whose lineup spotlighted tenor saxophonist Red Prysock from 1948 to 1952. Though he kept a relatively modest presence, Tiny Grimes remained musically engaged until his death, sustaining an unaltered swing-to-bop transitional idiom while leading sessions for Prestige/Swingville, Black & Blue, Muse, and Sonet.
