Jimmy Greene

Biography

Saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Jimmy Greene has emerged as a positive young presence in the creative music world. His solo recordings, True Life Stories (Criss Cross), Forever (Criss Cross), Brand New World (RCA Victor), Introducing Jimmy Greene (Criss Cross), The Overcomers Suite (NuJazz), and Gifts and Givers (Criss Cross) have been met with much critical acclaim. In fact, Tony Hall of Jazzwise Magazine calls Greene "...without doubt one of the most striking young tenors of recent years."

Greene was born in Hartford, CT on February 24, 1975. From a young age, he exhibited a God-given affinity for music. Greenes parents started him on alto saxophone at age six, and encouraged him to practice. As a high school student, Greene was selected to perform in several Regional, All-Connecticut, and All-New England jazz ensembles and symphonic bands. Greenes music teacher at Bloomfield High School arranged for him to meet and play for Jackie McLean at the famed altoists community arts school, The ArtistsCollective. Of his eager student, McLean commented, "From the beginning, I could tell that he was going to be an exceptional student. He already had a very mature sound and a very mature concept." McLeans teaching over the subsequent years gave the young musician a firm foundation in improvisation, a profound viewpoint of the jazz tradition, as well as the inspiration to seek his own musical identity. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.