George General Grice Jr., who went by the name Gigi Gryce and later as Basheer Qusim, was an American jazz musician, composer, arranger and teacher who died in 1983. Born into a musical family, he learned to play in his teens and following military service studied at the Boston Conservatory. He played with bands in Boston and New York and had a stint with the Lionel Hampton band including a tour of Europe in 1953.
Back in America he gained a reputation for arranging and became a respected composer. He continued to perform and arrange through the 1950s including recordings with Art Blakey, Donald Byrd, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Herbie Mann and Johnny Ray but in 1963 he turned away from performing completely to become a teacher. His albums include 'Nica's Tempo' (1955), 'Jazz Lab' (1957), 'Gigi Gryce' (1058), 'The Rat Race Blues' (1960) and 'Reminiscin' (1960).
