Flowers - Beautiful Life, Volume 2
Jimmy Greene
New York mainstreamer Greene divides himself here between his light, coolish tenor, a slightly more sharp-edged soprano and two smartly credentialed combos. Despite a couple of song texts, the...
Flowers - Beautiful Life, Volume 2
Jimmy Greene
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New York mainstreamer Greene divides himself here between his light, coolish tenor, a slightly more sharp-edged soprano and two smartly credentialed combos. Despite a couple of song texts, the...
About
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.” Feeding the fire on six tracks is Jimmy Greene’s Love In Action, a unit comprising veteran all-stars Renee Rosnes on piano and Fender Rhodes, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, with Rogerio Boccato on an array of percussion instruments, and, on three selections, next-generation guitar hero Mike Moreno. Raising a joyful noise on the other five pieces is Greene’s quartet, with first-callers including keyboardist Kevin Hays, bassist Ben Williams, and drummer Otis Brown, III. Greene himself solos on tenor and soprano saxophone with melodic focus, harmonic ingenuity and soulful authority. “For this new recording, I wanted a different sound and feeling than what we achieved on Beautiful Life. I’ve been close to Otis for many years and love his deep sense of groove combined with an ability to make things feel explosive and loose. Ben makes everything feel great—he can process anything and make it his own. Kevin’s open ears and expansive vocabulary lets him go anywhere the music takes you.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
July 2017
New York mainstreamer Greene divides himself here between his light, coolish tenor, a slightly more sharp-edged soprano and two smartly credentialed combos. Despite a couple of song texts, the backstory is never explicit, as it was on volume 1. Instead, the music is full of bright Brazilian and Cuban rhythms that keep the spirit crisp and uplifting