New CD "Songs From This Season" Available Now!
Called “a player to watch” by JazzTimes, Green seized the attention of the jazz community with his second-place finish in the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. He delivered on the promise of that prestigious honor with the release of his 2012 album Songs From This Season, on his own True Melody Music label.
The album, a stylistically diverse set distinguished by Green’s knack for establishing direct emotional connection to his listeners, features a stellar cast of established and rising jazz stars. The impressive list of sidemen on the session includes pianist Orrin Evans, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, guitarist Gilad Hekselman, drummers Rodney Green and Obed Calvaire, and several of Green’s collaborators in the thriving Baltimore/Washington DC jazz scene.
Green is a native of Baltimore, where he grew up surrounded by music. His father and uncle are singers, while his older brother was a trumpet player who Green emulated. While still attending high school at the Baltimore School of the Arts, he was selected from amongst more than 500 hopefuls to join the 25-member Grammy High School All- Star Band, which performed at the recording industry’s gala awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
He received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied under the tutelage of renowned instructors such as Dick Oatts, Gary Dial, Steve Slagle, and Bob Mintzer. The latter, a longtime member of the Grammy-winning Yellowjackets, calls Green “one of the brightest saxophonists on the scene.” In 2003, he was invited to be a pat of the Jazz Aspen Snowmass summer program under such luminaries as Lewis Nash, Russell Malone, Benny Green, Wallace Roney, and Christian McBride.
“Tim Green is a dynamic musician,” says McBride, the ever-in-demand bass giant. “If you make a checklist of everything you’d want in a musician, Tim has it all.”
In 2007, Green earned his Masters in Jazz Studies from the University of Southern California’s Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, where he came under the guiding lights of legends like Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Terence Blanchard. The master trumpeter calls Green, “a very talented musician with a wide array of creativity. His sound and writing are built on the strengths of our heritage while also containing a forward looking approach to create his own very personal sound."
After graduating from the Monk Institute, Green returned to his native Baltimore, where he is a key component of the city’s burgeoning jazz community. He still maintains an active presence in New York, and has been mentored by piano great Mulgrew Miller, who has called Green “a talented, committed, and accomplished young artist. And most importantly to me, he has a song in his heart.” The endorsement of such elders spotlights Green’s role as a torchbearer for the modern jazz tradition.
Through Miller, Green has been taken under the wing of one of his idols, saxophonist Kenny Garrett, who has been tireless in his encouragement and support of his young protégé. He’s also received bandstand endorsements from several heavy hitters who havecalled upon him as a sideman. The list includes Miller and McBride as well as pianist Eric Reed and the Carl Allen/Rodney Whitaker group.
All of those influences helped mold Green into the confident and versatile composer revealed on the original pieces that comprise most of Songs From This Season. But just as important to his sound is the rich life experience he has earned: rising through the ranks of the Baltimore jazz scene, serving his apprenticeship alongside acclaimed bandleaders on stages throughout New York and the world, and providing inspired accompaniment to the world’s greatest
gospel stars.
While he was raised in the church, gospel was not a significant aspect of Green’s musical upbringing. But upon moving to New York, he was enlisted by fellow Baltimorean Marvin Thompson to join his Mo’Horns brass section, which backed gospel stars like Fred Hammond and Richard Smallwood. Gospel has since become a vital element in Green’s musical vocabulary, and he has played or recorded with the likes of Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, Yolanda Adams, Israel Houghton, and Mary Mary. His 2005 debut album, Divine Inspiration (G Major Records), featured hymns and spirituals, and he has performed on BET’s hit gospel competition series Sunday Best and the Stella Gospel Music Awards.
On the more secular front, Green has performed with a wide range of artists including Roy Hargrove, Jon Faddis, Hubert Laws, Kenny Burrell, Patrice Rushen, Queen Latifah, Joe Chambers, Sean Jones, and Wynton Marsalis. He is also a member of the 75-piece Soulful Symphony, founded by conductor Darin Atwater, which recently undertook a residency at Baltimore’s Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.
In recent years Green has begun to mentor a younger generation in his native city, serving as the saxophone professor at Morgan State University and teaching at his alma mater, the Baltimore School for the Arts.
With roots that run deep in a variety of fertile soils and branches that reach wider and farther with each new venture, Tim Green is blossoming into one of the most exciting new voices of his generation.
"Tim is a very talented musician with a wide array of creativity. His sound and writing is built on the strengths of our heritage while also containing a forward looking approach to create his own very personal sound."Terence Blanchard Grammy Award Winning Trumpeter and Composer
"Green's a player to watch...fully capable of emerging as yet another of the artists who have used a second or third place finish in the Monk competition as a springboard to outstanding careers."Ted Parken Jazz Times
"Tim Green is one of the brightest saxophonists on the scene. He combines the tradition with forward-thinking sensibility and makes a substantial statement. Keep your eye/ear on Tim!"Bob Mintzer Grammy Awarding Winning Composer and Arranger , Saxophinst for the " Yellow Jackets
"It is always good to hear the substance the fire and the swing of Jazz remade in an individual personality of warmth , intelligence and inventions "Stanley Crouch Jazz Critic
"I'm very excited about Tim Green. He is a talented, committed, and accomplished young artist. And most importantly to me, he has a song in his heart. I love playing with Tim......... he's happening. I'm a fan!"Mulgrew Miller Legendary Jazz Pianist
"Mr. Green’s solos coursed out of him, flying into the upper register "Ben Ratliff New York Times
"Sitting at the piano, I get a bird's eye view of Tim Green's profile with horn high and lifted up playing into the heavens; what comes out is other-worldly. He's using the same notes that the rest of us are using, but the spirit of what's being offered indicates a uniquely personal connection not only to music, but to who he is and why he does what he does "Eric Reed Ledgendary Jazz Pianist
"Tim is state of the art and one of the best young saxophonists to hit the scene in the last decade. He has a beautiful sound, and his playing is inventive and modern with a great footing in the tradition. He is always an inspiration to hear."Greg Tardy Jazz Saxophinist , Recording Artist and Educator
" I had never really played with Tim Green, except for one gig with Orrin Evan's big band. I felt like he interpreted my music perfectly, and on a tune where I played trumpet, we had a great musical chemistry. I'm hoping to have some kind of repeat of this band soon. "George Colligan World Reknowned Jazz Pianist
TIM GREEN/Songs From This Season: Here’s a young sax man that’s simply knocking them dead. Playing with nice clean, muscular lines, there’s loads of straight ahead playing that grabs your ear with it’s deceptive simplicity and doesn’t let go. A solid dose of sitting down jazz that’s way more than just background music, Green sounds like the player you want to keep an ear on so you don’t miss something. A solid debut that tips it’s hand that even better things are to come. Hot stuff.Chris Spector www.midwestrecord.com
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Tim Green, "Songs From This Season" (True Melody). This recording, which won't be released until mid-February, represents a musical bridge between what came before and the here and now, and offers a glimpse into the music's future. Alto saxophonist Tim Green makes his affinity for religion known intermittently on this 13-selection disc. He also specifically references the likes of pianists Mulgrew Miller and the late Kenny Kirkland, "two of my favorite musicians," recognizing the merit of those who have preceded him.
Green has assembled a significant coterie of musicians who, like the bandleader himself, signify the coming of the next generation of fully mature musicians. Among the key players who contribute on various tunes is the gifted vibraphonist Warren Wolf; the somewhat more established pianist Orrin Evans, who shares the spotlight with two other keyboardists, is well-represented; bassists Josh Ginsburg and Kris Funn and drummers Obed Calvaire and Rodney Green share takes. All four younger veterans own thriving careers. Stylistically, Green lays out a series of improvisational but melodic and lyrical original compositions, combining them with interpretations of Wayne Shorter's "Pinocchio" and Billie Holiday's exceptional, haunting ballad "Don't Explain." Without being nostalgic, Green's forthcoming release will remind us both of jazz's great traditions as well as the music's equally important responsibility to seek new ground.Jon Poses Columbia Tribune
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"Tim Green is a dynamic musician. If you make a checklist of everything you'd want in a musician, Tim has it all."Christian McBride Grammy Award Winning Bassist
Despite the title, this not a Christmas album. “Songs for This Season” is a collection of tunes that saxophonist Tim Green says in the liner notes are about “a certain time in my life, or as I like to call it a ‘season.‘ ” The pieces include a bright, happy “Siloam,” named after the pool where a blind man regained sight in a famous Christian tale, a strong “Time of Liberation” and an optimistic “Hope.” Eight of the 10 tunes are originals by Green and the album also includes good versions of “Don‘t Explain” and Wayne Shorter‘s “Pinocchio.” Green performs well throughout with a crisp alto tone and impressive speed. The album also features a great backup crew with keyboardist Orrin Evans, vibes star Warren Wolf and drummers Rodney Green and Obed Calvaire. The play and the songs grow nicely hearing after hearing.Bob Karlovits TribLIVE
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Songs From This Season is his first post-Monk Competition album, nearly five years hence. However, it quickly becomes clear that he’s invested into his craft during that intervening time, because this is the product of a fully-formed and mature talent.
The spirituality is carried over — a few tracks even make biblical references in their titles — and plenty of modernity to go along with a solid foundation in tradition. It also helped that he surrounded himself with likewise young and dynamic musicians like Orrin Evans (piano), Warren Wolf (vibes), Gilad Hekselman (guitar), Kris Funn or Josh Ginsberg on bass and Rodney Green or Obed Calvaire on drums.S. Victor Aaron SomethingElseReview.com
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The distinctive supple rhythms and candid emotions Green’s talented sidemen pump out in this album, will have you bopping for well over an hour; and so will composer Tim Green’s piping, elliptical, and fervently swinging saxophone!Danny R. Johnson San Diego County News
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Saxophonist/composer Tim Green’s debut album as a bandleader is a very personal-feeling journey through an array of emotions – or “seasons” as he refers to them in his liner notes. Green wears his spirituality on his sleeve throughout Songs From This Season, letting it fuel and guide the music from the short, gentle drift of “Psalm 1” that opens the album to the cool, romantic groove of “Chitown” and the lively romp of “Dedication”Brian Robbins Jambands
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All the technique, style and flash in the world mean nothing if you can not execute these gifts. Luckily Tim Green has little to worry about. Green is a righteous player from beginning to end and backed with an all star group of musicians that are far more than "sidemen", he simply slays Songs From This Season with a little help from his friends. There are two overly crowded groups in modern jazz which include female vocalists and I now believe most anyone that even thinks they can play sax is now living in the Philly, Boston and New York areas. I'll go out on a limb and predict Green will quickly distance himself from the pack and this includes some of the more established players as well. A new shooter on a hot streak or some real deal talent on his way up. You make the call.Brent Black Critical Jazz
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Here’s a guy that makes you love the sound of the alto sax. Way too often this horn sounds too harsh or raspy on jazz sessions, but Tim Green’s got the intonation and pitch just the way Goldilocks liked her bed: just right.George W. Harris JazzWeekly
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Saxophonists Eric Alexander, Chris Potter, Jimmy Greene, John Ellis and Marcus Strickland all have at least one thing in common: they were all second or third place finishers in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition who went on to become leading lights in the world of jazz.DAN BILAWSKY All About Jazz
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Songs For The Season is a disc that Green should be proud of. It makes clear that he’s a persuasive player with lots of drive and tartness to his playing, and that he composes catchy and substantial tunes that exemplify several strands of modern mainstream jazzPeter Hum Ottawa Citizen
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What piece of art changed your life? How did it affect you?
The music of Charlie Parker changed my life. I was first introduced to Charlie Parker's music through a good friend of mine, Warren Wolf. He gave me a tape that included songs like "Confirmation," "Ornithology," "Now's The Time," "Donna Lee," and many other classics. I was in high school at the time, and this music really helped to develop my skills as an improviser, saxophonist, and as an over-all musician. I got so much from transcribing these solos, and there's so much that I'm still getting from his solos to this dayJohn Lewis Baltimore Magazine
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Upcoming Performances
Past Performances
Songs from this Season
2013
Divine Inspiration
2005
Contact Tim Green
For all inquiries about Performances, Clinics, and Private Lessons:
Publicity
Jordy FreedDirector of Marketing & Operations
DL Media, Inc.
1235 Hunt Club Lane
Media, PA 19063
W: 610-667-0501 | M: 267-274-7368 | Skype: jordy.freed
Visit our new website: dlmediamusic.com
Leader
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