Flowers – Beautiful Life, Vol. 2 Jimmy Greene

• 1 Big Guy 03:50
• 2 Stanky Leg 06:26
• 3 Flowers 04:20
• 4 Second Breakfast 07:17
• 5 Fun Circuits 04:19
• 6 Stink Thumb 06:38
• 7 Someday 05:17
• 8 December 07:52
• 9 Amantes 05:30
• 10 Something About You 05:59
• 11 Thirty-Two 06:04
• Total Runtime 01:03:32

Info zu Flowers – Beautiful Life, Vol. 2

As on his acclaimed Mack Avenue debut, Beautiful Life, a poignant, reflective recording that honored his daughter’s love of singing with a program combining jazz, spirituals, contemporary Christian music and ballads, Greene again fulfills his stated imperative of “reflecting the way that Ana lived.” Here, Greene hones in on Ana’s love of dance with a kinetic, groove-filled program comprising ten original compositions—including two Greene-penned lyrics—and his arrangement of the “new standard,” “Something About You.”

"In 2012, saxophonist Jimmy Greene lost his six-year-old daughter Ana Grace Marquez-Greene when she was murdered alongside 20 of her schoolmates during the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Poignantly, he paid tribute to Ana on his soulful 2014 album Beautiful Life. For 2017's buoyant follow-up, Flowers: Beautiful Life, Vol. 2, Greene continues to draw inspiration from his daughter's short life, this time exploring her love of dance. Joining Greene here is a stellar lineup featuring pianist Renee Rosnes, bassists John Patitucci and Ben Williams, drummers Otis Brown III and Jeff "Tain" Watts, guitarist Mike Moreno, percussionist Rogerio Boccato, and guest vocalists Jean Baylor and Sheena Rattai. If the first Beautiful Life found Greene in an understandably grief-stricken and deeply poetic state of mind, Flowers reveals a man who will never fully let go of his pain, but who is much more connected to the memory of his daughter's vitality and love of life than the tragedy of her death. This vitality is reflected in the animated grooves and lively melodies Greene brings to Flowers. There's also an experimental vibe here, with Greene bending his largely acoustic post-bop sound a bit more heavily toward fusion, as on the knotty groover "Fun Circuits." Similarly, "Stink Thumb," with its spacy Rhodes keyboard, brings to mind the '70s jazz of Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band. Even the far-eyed, soprano saxophone feature "Something About You" explodes mid-song into a choppy, angular improvisation. Still, there is a bittersweet tinge to the proceedings reflected in the languid, Latin flow of "Amantes" and the yearning vocal ballad "Someday." Remarkably, on Flowers: Beautiful Life, Vol. 2, Greene remains a productive, positive-minded artist whose music, and memory, have only deepened in their harmonic, rhythmic, and spiritual grace." (Matt Collar, AMG)

Jimmy Greene, soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxes
Jean Baylor, vocals
Sheena Rattai, vocals
Rogerio Boccato, percussion
Otis Brown III, drums, percussion
Jeff `Tain` Watts, drums, percussion
Kevin Hays, piano, Fender Rhodes
Renee Rosnes, piano, Fender Rhodes
Mike Moreno, guitar
John Pattitucci, bass
Ben Williams, bass

Jimmy Greene
A native of Connecticut, Jimmy Greene is one of the most respected saxophonists of his generation. His most recent recording, As We Are Now, will be released on July 25, 2025. His 2014 release, Beautiful Life (Mack Avenue), garnered two Grammy® Award nominations: one for Best Jazz Instrumental Album and one for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals for Greene’s song “When I Come Home.” Greene has performed selections from the album on CBS This Morning, NBC’s The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, and the nationally syndicated Meredith Vieira Show. His other releases as a leader, While Looking Up (Mack Avenue), Flowers: Beautiful Life, Vol. 2 (Mack Avenue), Live at Smalls (SmallsLive), Mission Statement (RazDaz/Sunnyside), The Overcomers Suite (NuJazz), Gifts and Givers (Criss Cross), True Life Stories (Criss Cross), Forever (Criss Cross), Brand New World (RCA Victor), Live at Birdland (RCA Victor) and Introducing Jimmy Greene (Criss Cross) were also met with much critical acclaim. In fact, Tony Hall of Jazzwise Magazine (UK) calls Greene “ . . .without doubt one of the most striking young tenors of recent years.”

The Jimmy Greene Quartet/Quintet performs in concert venues, festivals and clubs worldwide, including the Village Vanguard, Smoke and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola in New York, the Alexanderplatz Jazz Club (Rome, Italy), Sunside Jazz Club (Paris, France), Newport Jazz Festival (USA), Detroit International Jazz Festival (USA), Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival (USA), Red Sea Jazz Festival (Israel), Lapataia Jazz Festival (Uruguay) and Amazonas Jazz Festival (Brazil). In one such appearance, Jim Macnie of the Village Voice said, “[Greene] is good for a couple of body chills every time you see him. He’s got a big barrelhouse sound, and a way of negotiating changes that make academic moves seem natural.”

In addition to his recordings and appearances as a leader, Greene appears on over 100 albums as a sideman and is a member of legendary bassist Ron Carter’s Foursight Quartet. He has also toured and/or recorded in the bands of Horace Silver, Tom Harrell, Freddie Hubbard, Harry Connick, Jr., Avishai Cohen, Kenny Barron, Lewis Nash, Steve Turre, Dee Dee Bridgewater and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, among many others. As a member of Harrell’s quintet, Greene was featured on CBS’s benchmark news magazine, 60 Minutes. As a member of Harry Connick Jr.’s Big Band, Greene is a featured soloist on 2 DVD releases, Harry for the Holidays, and Only You. He was featured as a soloist on Connick’s 2003 holiday special aired on NBC, in addition to NBC’s Today Show, and BBC’s Parkinson Show.

As a composer, Greene was awarded the prestigious 2005 ASCAP / IAJE Commission in honor of Ornette Coleman. Greene is the 2013 recipient of the State of Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award in Music as well as the 2012 recipient of the City of Hartford’s Innovator Award in Music. Greene was twice named a winner of Chamber Music America’s New Works: Creation and Presentation grant for jazz composition - in 2004 and again in 2023, awarded a 2005 Artist Fellowship in Music Composition by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, and awarded a 2009 Individual Artist Grant by the Greater Hartford Arts Council. Seventy of Greene’s original compositions and arrangements have been recorded on the Mack Avenue, RCA Victor, SmallsLive, Criss Cross, NuJazz and RazDaz / Sunnyside labels. In addition, Greene’s performance of his composition “Mr. McLean” was aired throughout the US and Canada on ABC-TV during a NASCAR pre-race broadcast in September 2007.

Greene was the winner of the 66th annual DownBeat Magazine International Critics Poll in the “Rising Star – Soprano Saxophone” category. As a youngster, he was named First Runner-Up in the 1996 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Jazz Saxophone Competition.

A dedicated educator, Jimmy Greene is Professor of Music and Co-Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Western Connecticut State University and was awarded a 2013 Outstanding Faculty Award for his efforts. Prior to his WCSU appointment, Greene taught at the University of Manitoba, SUNY Purchase and the Hartt School. Dr. Greene has given clinics and master classes throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Brazil, Israel and Russia. Three of his former students have been named semi-finalists in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition and 18 student musicians and small ensembles under Greene’s direction have won DownBeat Magazine Student Music Awards.

Also a passionate arts advocate, Greene has partnered with the Arts Consulting Group on several projects nationwide, served on the Connecticut Arts Council and on the board of the Connecticut Arts Council Foundation. Prior to those appointments, Greene served on the Hartt School Board of Regents. To honor his late daughter Ana Grace Márquez-Greene and support the work of his wife Nelba, Greene serves on the board member of the 501(c)3 charitable foundation, in his daughter’s name, The Ana Grace Project. The Greene family also established the Ana Márquez-Greene Music Scholarship at Western Connecticut State University. Each year, deserving young musicians are offered the award in Ana’s name to help offset the cost of college tuition.

Greene is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music’s Doctor of Musical Arts program in Jazz Arts and received the Helen Cohn Award for outstanding D.M.A. graduate. During his time at MSM, he was named a Jazz Arts Fellow and was awarded the Clement Meadmore Scholarship. Greene earned a Master of Music degree in music education from Boston University and a Bachelor of Music degree in African-American Music Studies from The Hartt School. Greene’s primary mentors have included Jackie McLean, Jim McNeely, Garry Dial, Justin DiCioccio, David Liebman, Phil Markowitz, Dave Santoro, Kris Jensen, Steve Davis, Ken Radnofsky and Janet Arms.

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