Raphael Grinage was an American jazz and folk musician and composer.

Early life

Raphael Grinage (aka Les Grinage) was born in Cleveland, Ohio on January 4, 1931, the third of four sons. His father, Jose, was an African-American Methodist Episcopal (AME) minister, and his mother, Lathrope Tull, taught piano. His family moved to Kentucky when he was a teenager, and from there, after graduating high school, Raphael joined the Army and was sent to Korea. Upon his discharge, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in music. He had already participated in bands during high school, and decided to become a professional bassist. His formal music training was obtained at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

Music career

As a

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

, Grinage accompanied many of the jazz greats of the era such as vocalist

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretati ...

and legendary pianist

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...

, among others. He increased his versatility by playing

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and learning to play the Japanese Koto and the

Dilruba The dilruba (also spelled dilrupa) is a bowed musical instrument originating in India. It is a type of Bowed Sitar that's slightly larger than an esraj and has a larger, square resonance box like a sarangi. The dilruba holds particular importa ...

(a bowed version of the Indian sitar). In the 50s, he was a member of the musicians who accompanied the

Alvin Ailey Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Cent ...

Company, and joined them in several international visits, on behalf of the US State Department. In the 1960s, he joined folksinger

Odetta Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and s ...

, and accompanied her for over five years, travelling around the world. It was while he was in Japan with

that he met the woman he would marry, and that decision changed his life’s trajectory. Returning to the United States in 1969, Raphael joined with

Hamilton Camp Hamilton Camp (born Robin S. Camp; 30 October 1934 – 2 October 2005) was a British-born actor and singer, who relocated to the United States with his family when he was a young child. He is known for his work as a folk singer during the 1960s ...

and two other musicians to form the group, The True Brethren. The four composed the music for

Paul Sills' Story Theatre ''Paul Sills' Story Theatre'' is a play with music, adapted from fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm and Aesop's Fables. Productions The ''Story Theatre'' debuted at 1848 N. Wells Street in Chicago during the summer of 1968. That buildi ...

, which previewed at

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighborin ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Later it was taken to Broadway where it played for a year before it went on tour and became the basis of a TV series. The show was nominated for best Broadway show of the year in 1971. Grinage also played and composed music for the Broadway Show, Paul Sills adaptation of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Grinage played at many Bay Area venues, including the musical based on the famous song "

Stompin' at the Savoy "Stompin' at the Savoy" is a 1933 jazz standard composed by Edgar Sampson. It is named after the famed Harlem nightspot the Savoy Ballroom in New York City. History and composition Although the song is often credited to Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, ...

", which ran in San Francisco for several months. He also played with many Bay Area musicians, including

Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...

. In 2012 four live recordings of the True Brethren from 1969 were released for the first time by one of the members of the original group. In these rare recordings, Grinage plays two of the instruments he spent a lifetime playing: the

and

dilruba The dilruba (also spelled dilrupa) is a bowed musical instrument originating in India. It is a type of Bowed Sitar that's slightly larger than an esraj and has a larger, square resonance box like a sarangi. The dilruba holds particular importa ...

Personal life

Raphael fathered four sons. His career was impacted by his having become a double amputee as a result of diabetes. On December 15, 1993, at Raphael's home in Oakland, California, the Oakland police animal control attempted to quarantine his son Luke's pitbull, which had bitten 3 people and was behind on rabies vaccinations. After a brief conversation and Luke's initial resistance to surrendering his dog, he finally agreed to get the dog. But scuffling with OPD ensued and eventually, Luke obtained a shotgun and killed Officer William Grijalva. Two other officers on scene returned fire which killed Luke. Raphael was caught in the crossfire in his wheel chair as well as Luke's dog.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grinage, Raphael 1931 births 1993 deaths Musicians from Cleveland American jazz musicians American male composers Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area 20th-century American composers Manhattan School of Music alumni Jazz musicians from California Jazz musicians from Ohio 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians