Critical reception
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]
Personnel
- Jimmy Greene - tenor and soprano sax, flute
- Lewis Nash - drums
- Renee Rosnes - piano (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10)
- Isaiah Marquez-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 Marquez-Greene - vocals (track 1)
- Anika Noni Rose - spoken word (track 10)
References
- ↑ 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.
- 1 2 Chilton, Martin (November 27, 2014). "Jimmy Greene's remarkable jazz tribute to his daughter". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- 1 2 Collar, Matt. "Beautiful Life - Jimmy Greene : Review". AllMusic. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- 1 2 Myers, Patricia (February 9, 2015). "Jimmy Greene: A Beautiful Life". All About Jazz. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- 1 2 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.