Jimmy Greene

Jimmy Greene stands out as a tenor saxophonist whose warm, uplifting tone shapes acoustic post-bop, fusing deep respect for jazz heritage with forward-leaning creative touches rooted in his abiding spirituality. A protégé of Jackie McLean, he surfaced on the East Coast during the late 1990s alongside Horace Silver, Harry Connick, Jr., Chick Corea, and Avishai Cohen, then established his own voice through leader dates such as 2000’s Introducing Jimmy Greene, 2006’s True Life Stories, and 2009’s Mission Statement. Beyond performance, Greene serves as assistant professor and director of jazz studies at Western Connecticut State University. Wider attention arrived after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, claimed his six-year-old daughter; he channeled that loss into the 2014 Grammy-nominated Beautiful Life and its 2017 companion Flowers: Beautiful Life, Vol. 2, both dedicated to her memory.

Born in Bloomfield, Connecticut, in 1975, Greene entered a musical home where his father, James Greene, Sr.—an amateur saxophonist and R&B songwriter who issued several 1970s albums—gave him an alto saxophone at age six. Jazz entered his world during adolescence; his private instructor escorted him to Hartford to meet Jackie McLean, then head of the jazz program at the Hartt School of Music and founder of the Artists’ Collective community school. Greene studied with McLean throughout high school and performed with other Artists’ Collective musicians. After graduation he attended The Hartt School, where he placed as runner-up in the 1997 Thelonious Monk Competition.

Upon leaving Hartt, Greene settled in New York City and strengthened his profile through work with bassist Avishai Cohen, Horace Silver, Chick Corea, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, while also joining the New Jazz Composers Octet alongside Xavier Davis, Gregory Tardy, Myron Walden, Dwayne Burno, and Nasheet Waits. His RCA Victor debut, Brand New World, showcased trombonist Steve Davis and drummer Eric McPherson—both longtime McLean associates—plus pianist Aaron Goldberg, trumpeter Darren Barrett, bassist Burno, and percussionist Kahlil Kwame Bell.

Greene next issued a sequence of well-received Criss Cross albums beginning with 2000’s Introducing Jimmy Greene, again featuring his sextet of Davis, Goldberg, and McPherson. Early-2000s tours and sessions linked him with Harry Connick, Jr., Jason Lindner, Ralph Peterson, Tom Harrell, Mario Pavone, and Jeremy Pelt ahead of his second Criss Cross release, the 2004 spiritual quartet date Forever, which paired him with pianist Xavier Davis, bassist John Benítez, and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts. True Life Stories followed in 2006 with trumpeter Pelt, pianist Davis, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Eric Harland; Rogers and Harland rejoined for 2007’s Gifts and Givers, completed by saxophonist Marcus Strickland, guitarist Mike Moreno, and pianist Danny Grissett.

Recognition extended beyond recordings. In 2004 Greene received Chamber Music America’s New Works: Creation and Presentation grant for jazz composition; the next year brought the ASCAP/IAJE Commission honoring Ornette Coleman and an Artist Fellowship in Music Composition from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. The Greater Hartford Arts Council awarded him an Individual Artist Grant in 2009. Later honors included the City of Hartford’s 2012 Innovator Award in Music and the State of Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award in Music for 2013. During this span he issued the live album The Overcomer’s Suite on Nu Jazz Records, documenting his ensemble with Kendrick Scott, Xavier Davis, and Luques Curtis at Hartford’s Firehouse 12. Mission Statement appeared the following year, highlighting guitarist Lage Lund alongside pianist Davis, bassist Rogers, and drummer Harland. The concert recording Live at Smalls surfaced in 2011.

Greene’s teaching path included a post at Canada’s University of Manitoba. He later earned a master’s in music education from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts and returned to Connecticut as assistant professor of music and coordinator of jazz studies at Western Connecticut State University. On 14 December 2012, his daughter Ana Grace Marquez-Greene was killed with twenty classmates in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. After sustained mourning, Greene released his eighth studio album, 2014’s Beautiful Life, a tribute featuring pianist Kenny Barron, former NBC’s The Voice champion Javier Colon, Kurt Elling, and additional guests. The set debuted at number five on the Billboard Jazz chart and number six on the Gospel chart, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Album. Its 2017 sequel, Flowers: Beautiful Life, Vol. 2, drew from his daughter’s passion for dance. In 2020 he issued While Looking Up, reuniting with guitarist Lage Lund, drummer Kendrick Scott, bassist Reuben Rogers, and vibraphonist Stefon Harris.