Beautiful Life is a heart-opening response to unimaginable pain. Saxophonist Jimmy Greene's daughter Ana Grace was one of the 20 children killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012. Rather than curse the darkness, Greene chooses to light a candle, gathering some of his illustrious musical friends to celebrate his daughter's life and raise money for the project started in Ana's name.
Greene’s core quartet, with pianist Rene Rosnes, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Lewis Nash is stellar enough, but add guitarist Pat Metheny, vocalist Kurt Elling and pianist Kenny Barron to the mix and you have a roll call of US jazz royalty. Even without the context, this would be a beautiful recording; knowing the background, one cannot but be humbled by its generosity.
