Beautiful Life is the eighth studio album from Jimmy Greene. Mack Avenue Records released the album on November 25, 2014. Greene dedicated the album to his daughter, Ana Grace Márquez-Greene, who was murdered in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.[1][2][3][4]
| Beautiful Life | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | November 25, 2014 |
| Genre | Jazz, gospel, post-bop, neo-bop |
| Length | 49:02 |
| Label | Mack Avenue |
| Producer | Greene |
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| All About Jazz | [6] |
| The Irish Times |  [7] |
Reviewing the album from The New York Times, Nate Chinen describes, "there's...a quiet resilience in those songs".[8] Marcus Chilton, writing a review at The Daily Telegraph, replies, "Beautiful Life is a remarkable tribute".[4] Awarding the album four and a half stars at AllMusic, Matt Collar states, "Greene transforms his personal anguish into something that's as inspirational to the soul as it is beautiful to the ears."[5] Larkin Corman, rating the album four stars from The Irish Times, writes, "Even without the context, this would be a beautiful recording; knowing the background, one cannot but be humbled by its generosity."[7] Giving the album five stars for All About Jazz, Patricia Myers says, "Greene's album combines jazz with spirituals, contemporary Christian music and ballads, plus three original songs."[6] Jack Goodstein, penning a review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer, responds, "Beautiful Life is an emotionally charged musical celebration of a life too soon lost."[9] Writing a review from the Ottawa Citizen, Peter Hum recognizes, "Totalling about 50 minutes in all, Beautiful Life is a concise album in which every note speaks volumes."[10]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Saludos/Come Thou Almighty King" | Felice Giardini, Charles Wesley | 5:12 |
| 2. | "Last Summer" | Jimmy Greene | 6:37 |
| 3. | "When I Come Home" | Greene | 3:21 |
| 4. | "Ana's Way" | Greene | 7:13 |
| 5. | "Your Great Name" | Michael Neale, Krissy Nordhoff | 5:20 |
| 6. | "Where Is Love?" | Lionel Bart | 4:34 |
| 7. | "Seventh Candle" | Greene | 6:15 |
| 8. | "Maybe" | Martin Charnin, Charles Strouse | 3:05 |
| 9. | "Prayer" | Greene | 4:02 |
| 10. | "Little Voices" | Greene | 3:23 |
| Total length: | 49:02 | ||
Personnel
edit- Jimmy Greene – tenor and soprano sax, flute
- Lewis Nash – drums
- Renee Rosnes – piano (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10)
- Isaiah Márquez-Greene – piano (track 1)
- Kenny Barron – piano (tracks 6 and 8)
- Cyrus Chestnut – piano (track 9)
- Pat Metheny – acoustic guitar (track 1)
- Jonathan DuBose – guitar (track 10)
- Christian McBride – bass
- Jeffrey Krieger and Peter Zay – cello (tracks 3 and 9)
- Michael Wheeler and Sharon Dennison – viola (tracks 3 and 9)
- Leonid Sigal, Cyrus Stevens, Karin Fagerburg, Millie Piekos, Yuri Kharenko-Golduber, Candace Lammers, Krzysztof Gadawski, Lu Sun Friedman, Michael Pollard – violins (tracks 3 and 9)
- Javier Colon – vocals (track 3)
- Kurt Elling – vocals (track 4)
- Latanya Farrell – vocals (track 9)
- Ana Márquez-Greene – vocals (track 1)
- Anika Noni Rose – spoken word (track 10)
Chart performance
edit| Chart (2014–15) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Christian Albums (Billboard)[11] | 36 |
| US Top Gospel Albums (Billboard)[12] | 6 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[13] | 6 |
| US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[14] | 5 |
References
edit- ^ Proefrock, Stacia. "Jimmy Greene : Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ Staff (December 7, 2015). "Jimmy Greene, former U of M music professor, nominated for 2 Grammy awards". CBC News. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
- ^ Chinen, Nate (November 26, 2014). "Jimmy Greene's 'Beautiful Life' Is a Eulogy to a Daughter". The New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ a b Chilton, Martin (November 27, 2014). "Jimmy Greene's remarkable jazz tribute to his daughter". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ a b Collar, Matt. "Beautiful Life – Jimmy Greene : Review". AllMusic. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ a b Myers, Patricia (February 9, 2015). "Jimmy Greene: A Beautiful Life". All About Jazz. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ a b Larkin, Cormac (January 1, 2015). "Jimmy Greene: Beautiful Life". The Irish Times. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ Chinen, Nate (November 26, 2014). "Jimmy Greene's 'Beautiful Life' Is a Eulogy to a Daughter". The New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ Goodstein, Jack (December 11, 2014). "Music Review: Jimmy Greene – 'Beautiful Life'". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ Hum, Peter (November 24, 2014). "Beautiful Life, by Jimmy Greene, reviewed". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ "Jimmy Greene Chart History (Christian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ "Jimmy Greene Chart History (Top Gospel Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ "Jimmy Greene Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ "Jimmy Greene Chart History (Top Jazz Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 5, 2016.