Jazz Articles about Jimmy Greene

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Jimmy Greene: The Overcomer's Suite

by David Adler
January 25, 2009

If you compose a suite kindled by a big idea, it's best to front a band with a big sound. That's what tenor/soprano saxophonist Jimmy Greene does on The Overcomer's Suite, his sixth title as a leader and his first for the digital-only Nu Jazz label. Recorded live at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, the session documents a quartet in excellent form, well-rehearsed but ready to improvise. Bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Kendrick Scott bring torrents of rhythm and a ...

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Jimmy Greene: Gifts and Givers

by Joel Roberts
December 14, 2007

It's probably time to cast aside labels like “up-and-coming" and “rising star" when describing Jimmy Greene. As Gifts and Givers makes clear, the Connecticut-born tenor saxophonist has definitely arrived. An inventive, technically-advanced mainstreamer, Greene made his mark in the bands of Horace Silver, Tom Harrell and Harry Connick Jr., as well as with younger studs like Jason Lindner and Avishai Cohen. On his fifth effort as a leader, he's paired with another young tenor titan, Marcus Strickland. ...

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Jimmy Greene: True Life Stories

by C. Andrew Hovan
August 24, 2006

Jimmy Greene came into many advantageous and heady situations early on in his career, and he has really begun to find himself as an artist within the past few years. Now in his early thirties, Greene had made a total of three previous albums as a leader, and while they demonstrated his promise, they also hinted at something more was under the surface which had yet to be fully documented on disc. All this is to say that True Life ...

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Jimmy Greene Quartet: Forever

by Javier AQ Ortiz
August 11, 2005

Forever offers a choice of reasons for celebration. Its repertoire, mostly based on music inspired by the Protestant and so-called Evangelical versions of the Christian faith, is a somewhat unexplored vein that contains rich melodic and evocative deposits yet to be strip-mined. Although there certainly are examples of its interpretation throughout the history of jazz, much remains to be done with its musical potential. Greene's contribution in that regard is first-rate. Perhaps the most obvious and reachable ...

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Darren Barrett: Deelings

by Dave Nathan
July 1, 2001

Darren Barrett, winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 1997, is emerging as a leader in the New Bop movement, a jazz form that combines elements of hard bop (there is lots of that here), fusion and modal music. His second album has a musical agenda of mostly original compositions mixed with two standards.

Barrett is a monster trumpet player. But here he is hindered, and sometimes defeated, by most of the material he has chosen to ...

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Darren Barrett: Deelings

by Jerry D'Souza
June 1, 2001

To play with two masters of their craft certainly says a lot. It is not surprising, however, that Darren Barrett is now a member of the Elvin Jones Jazz Explosion, where he helps extend the perimeter of the band, and also has his time playing for Jackie McLean. That they should consider him worthy enough to be with them speaks volumes for his credentials.

Barrett's has grown as a player since the time of his debut album. His technique is ...

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Darren Barrett: Deelings

by Jack Bowers
June 1, 2001

This is the second J Curve release by trumpeter Darren Barrett, a relatively young firebrand who won the Thelonious Monk trumpet competition four years ago. As on the previous album ( First One Up ), what Barrett and his companions lay down sounds much like the Blue Note sessions from the ’50s and ’60s that featured such nimble–fingered players as Donald Byrd (who produced this album), Lee Morgan or Freddie Hubbard. Neo–bop? Call it what you will; there’s little doubt, ...