Feb. 15, 2021 ///

Vol 1.1 - Jymie Merritt

This inaugural show at Conceptual Fade is in honor of the late, great Jymie Merritt, legendary jazz bassist and composer. Jymie Merritt (May 3, 1926 – April 10, 2020) was an American jazz double-bassist, electric-bass pioneer, band leader, and composer. Merritt was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers group from 1957 until 1962. Jymie was also the founder of The Forerunners, a cooperative organization which was active in Philadelphia’s cultural and community activities into the late ’80s. He founded the organization in 1962 and led it until his death in 2020. Jymie recorded with Chet Baker in 1964, and played with Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, and Lee Morgan from the mid-’60s to the early ’70s. Though Jymie never recorded as a leader, preferring to compose for other musicians, his compositions can be heard on a range of legendary jazz records with some of the world’s top jazz musicians.

Jymie was a dear friend of mine. Though he was often known as a “sideman,” Jymie was core to every group he played with and every song he featured on. Jymie was prolific in his practice as a jazz musician, but also in his work as a teacher and philosopher, through his writings and ambitions for pushing the culture of jazz forward.

My art and my love of jazz brought me to him, and I was able to share with him my own artistic practice’s foundational investment in jazz aesthetic. We shared the idea of the jam session, what it takes to play and to always be in search for a new sound. We shared what it means to be a master of something, but also the desire to master through ideas of improvisation, and what it means to go away and come back to the sound, the core, the foundation—in Jymie’s case, the bass line.

While each exhibit featured at Conceptual Fade will center a single work, in this case the single work is the last acoustic bass that Jymie played and traveled with around the world. Without the blessings of Jymie's wife Ave and his son Mike Merritt, a highly accomplished bassist in his own right, this exhibition would not have been possible during this time. This presentation features an intimate selection from Jymie and Ave Merritt’s personal archive, which is a true memorial to Jymie’s life and work. It is only through Ave Merritt’s guidance and through her immense generosity that this show is possible. She is my co-curator and I am forever grateful for her generosity.

When a musician dies, especially one of Jymie’s magnitude, the thing you do when they pass on is send them up with music and memorial. This is my way of sending my dear friend Jymie Merritt up, by display of his own brilliance.

This is for you and those who love you Jymie. This is for Philadelphia’s past, present and future Black artists and practitioners of conceptual thought.

Thank you for your support, especially during such difficult times for us all. I hope that you enjoy the space that Conceptual Fade offers.

xTiona Nekkia McClodden

Founder + Director

Conceptual Fade

Exhibition Archive + Image Details

Founding Donor Preview