Saxophonist Jimmy Greene will release a new album, Beautiful Life, on Mack Avenue Records on Nov. 25. The album is described in a press release as “a celebration of the life of his 6-year-old daughter, Ana Márquez-Greene, whose life was tragically taken, along with 19 other children and six educators, on December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.”
Joining Greene on the recording are Renee Rosnes, piano; Christian McBride, bass; Lewis Nash, drums), augmented by guitarists Pat Metheny and Jonathan DuBose, Jr.; pianists Kenny Barron and Cyrus Chestnut; vocalists Kurt Elling, Javier Colon and Latanya Farrell; spoken word from actress Anika Noni Rose; a 13-piece string ensemble from the Hartford Symphony Orchestra; as well as an accomplished children’s choir.
Beautiful Life opens with a recording of Ana singing the traditional “Saludos” (“Greetings”) at a Christmas celebration in Puerto Rico with her mother Nelba Márquez-Greene’s family-and her father playing in the background-a year before Ana’s death.
