Back in 2009, I came upon a CD by a rising saxophone and composing talent by the name of Jimmy Greene. Mission Statement, was a breakthrough album for this talented young musician, one that impressed upon me and many others that he was destined for even greater things.
Greene has since achieved the acclaim as a top jazz musician that he so deserved but had to scale that mountain while simultaneously dealing with an unthinkable personal loss. Check out his story sometime, it’s one of human perseverance and the persistence to forge ahead instead of staying frozen in a place of grief.
Jimmy Greene’s latest album While Looking Up, though, looks back to Mission Statement, in that Greene returns several of the same sidemen: guitarist Lage Lund, bassist Reuben Rogers and vibraphonist Stefon Harris. Pianist Aaron Goldberg and drummer Kendrick Scott weren’t on the older album, but they did appear on Greene records that go back even earlier.
The music they made sounded fresh then, and While Looking Up sounds fresh as well. There’s a joy that exudes from Greene’s soprano sax when he plays the Cole Porter tune “So In Love,” and his arrangement has a modern sensibility and a buoyant step. “Always There” is (not the Ronnie Laws song), but it’s got a unique groove of its own; Lund’s guitar, Goldberg’s piano and Harris’ marimba all contribute to the same rhythm from different angles and Scott brings it all together on his drums. Lund, Goldberg, Harris and Greene engage in a four-way trading session that’s nice ‘n’ lively. And “Overreaction” is a sly, sax/guitar unison modern jazz in the style of Michael Brecker, where Goldberg and Lund put in a stellar solo performances.
The wind trio you hear on “April 4th” is all Jimmy Greene: clarinet, bass clarinet and flute. Using soprano sax as his lead instrument, he pays tribute to his departed daughter (and her birthday) by once again conjuring her spirit with a lightly dancing, happy tune, capped by some strong Harris vibes work.
When Jimmy Greene softens up, he brings the same sort of urbane quality and is able to set the precise tone that the song call for. For instance, Aaron Goldberg’s brooding electric piano sets the nocturne mood of “No Words,” but Greene’s tenor knows just how to transport you into some smoky street in New York in the middle of the night, letting emotion inform his technique. Greene’s tenor sax is in a sultry state on the standard “Good Morning Heartache,” practicing the almost-lost art of the kind of cool fervor that the old sax masters used to practice all the time. With only the Rogers/Scott rhythm section backing Greene, his own mastery becomes even more apparent. “Steadfast” finds Greene back on soprano, spinning a melody that straddles the line between hope and wistfulness.
Jimmy Greene takes on the Whitney Houston hit “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” as a ballad. You’d be hard pressed to recognize the song with the serious, stylized tone he applies to it until he reaches the chorus, but he also pours his heart out more and more as it goes along.
“Simple Prayer” has only a slight gospel tint at first, with a good measure of Greene’s usual elegance. But as the song moves along, Greene is increasingly letting that church-y passion out, ending the album — as the album’s title suggests — looking upward.
In these very uncertain and volatile times, it’s sometimes good to know that some things hadn’t changed. The Jimmy Greene of 2020’s While Looking Up is the same Jimmy Greene of 2009’s Mission Statement: a man of faith, eternal hope and steely determination. And, a danged fine musician.
While Looking Up is planned for release on April 3, 2020 from Mack Avenue Records.
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