Big Dog 92-7 Music Guide

Jimmy Greene

Tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene was born in Bloomfield, CT, in 1975. His father, James Greene, Sr., who was an amateur saxophonist and songwriter, got his son making music at an early age, buying him his first alto saxophone at age six. Two years later he began taking lessons and by junior high, the younger Greene had become obsessed with jazz music. When he was 15, his teacher brought him to the nearby larger town of Hartford to meet Jackie McLean, the legendary saxophonist, who at the time was both directing the jazz program at Hartt College of Music and running a community school called the Artists' Collective. Impressed with McLean, he studied with him throughout high school and took to the discipline and rigor of working with a professional musician right away. McLean has said that Greene was a natural prodigy, taking a week to learn material that should have taken a month to master. Greene also benefited from the association with the Artists' Collective and McLean when he went to record his debut album, Brave New World, which featured several artists from McLean's ensembles, including trombonist Steve Davis and drummer Eric McPherson.

More Jimmy Greene

Discography