Search - Jimmy Greene :: Mission Statement

Beautiful Album by sax man Jimmy Greene

Anthony R. Guarriello | Rutherfordton NC | 11/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mission Statement by Jimmy Greene is a masterful statement by a great saxophonist in a music scene loaded with many great saxophone players. Jimmy stands out in my opinion because of his full bodied tone & individual sounding original compositions and a Coltrane command of the tenor & soprano saxophones. The amount of respect he commands on the jazz scene can be measured by the stellar company that he keeps on this album. This band is one of the main reasons for this albums wonderful sound. The band consists of Lage Lund on guitar a young lion if you will in the school of Pat Martino & Pat Metheny who has been making alot of noise as a leader & in many sideman appearances. Xavier Davis on piano who is a fine player that has appeared with Jimmy on several other albums most recently Greene's live album Jimmy Greene: The Overcomer's Suite [CD on Demand]. Driving the rhythm are two of my personal favorites Reuben Rogers on bass & Eric Harland on drums, both these players represent the cream of the younger jazz musicians & they are awesome! Rogers with his total command of the bass & clean tone & Harland reinventing jazz drumming with each appearance he makes on record & there are many. Also vibes man Stefon Harris makes a appearance on the track Revelation. All the music here is written by Greene who being the fine composer that he is makes the lack of any well known jazz standards tolerable. This album is more of a concept album that in my opinion aims to tell a story or paint a picture for the listener. The tunes cover a wide spectrum of emotions & moods the opening title track starts the album off with a bang & it's a roller coster ride of hard swinging tunes & gentle ballads. I like to say let the music speak for itself which is why I'd rather not do a track by track analysis hopefully from what I have said you can get that this is a great work worthy of your hard earned dollars. Check this out!"