Sandy Hook Victim's Dad Turns Her Life Into Music

Saxophonist Jimmy Greene says he grieves for his daughter every day
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 18, 2013 4:59 PM CDT
Sandy Hook Victim's Dad Turns Her Life Into Music
Jazz saxophonist Jimmy Greene.   (JimmyGreene.com)

Jazz musician Jimmy Greene said he couldn't touch his saxophone for a month—after his 6-year-old daughter, Ana Márquez-Greene, was murdered in the Sandy Hook massacre, the New York Times reports. "I don’t know if we’ll ever feel whole again," said Green, who also has a wife and a 9-year-old son. "I still cry every day—we all do. I don’t know if there’s a day when we won't." Now he has recorded a soulful and reflective album to commemorate Ana's spirit, called Beautiful Life. "It’s a way for us to keep Ana alive, and keep her on the tip of our tongues."

Greene made sure that choral parts were recorded with Ana's old school choir in Winnipeg, Canada, where the family used to live. "I wanted it to be sung by kids who knew my daughter," said Greene, but when they sang it, "I didn’t think I could stay in the room." Also joining him on the album are guitarist Pat Metheny and singer Anika Noni Rose, who voiced the princess in a film Ana loved, The Princess and the Frog. "The goal is the reflection and celebration of Ana’s beautiful life," said Greene, "and how all lives are precious and beautiful." (More Newtown, Connecticut stories.)

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