Geri Allen
Encyclopedia
Geri Allen is an American
composer/pianist educator jazz pianist, raised in Detroit, Michigan
, and educated in the Detroit Public Schools
. Allen has worked with many of the greats of modern music, including Ornette Coleman, Ron Carter
, Ravi Coltrane
, Tony Williams, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette
, Betty Carter
, and Charles Lloyd. She cites her primary influences to be her parents, Mount Vernell Allen Jr, and Barbara Jean Allen, and her primary musical influences to be, mentors Marcus Belgrave, Donald Waldon, and Betty Carter, as well as pianists, Herbie Hancock, Mary Lou Williams, Hank Jones, Alice Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, Bud Powell and mentor, Dr. Billy Taylor. Allen is an Associate Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation in the School Of Music Theatre & Dance, at the University Of Michigan
.
in Detroit and the Jazz Development Workshop, where her mentor was the highly regarded trumpeter/teacher Marcus Belgrave
. In 1979, Allen earned her bachelor's degree in jazz studies from Howard University
in Washington, D.C. She studied under composer Thomas Kerr, and pianists Raymond Jackson, John Malachi, Fred Irby, Arthur Dawkins, and Komla Amoaku. After graduation, she moved to New York City, where she studied with the veteran bop pianist Kenny Barron
. From there, at the behest of the jazz educator Nathan Davis
, Allen attended the University of Pittsburgh
, earning a master's degree in ethnomusicology
, returning to New York in 1982, and began touring with Mary Wilson and the Supremes. In the mid-'80s, Allen became a charter member of both the Black Rock Coalition and the Brooklyn M-Base
movement a collective including saxophonist Steve Coleman
, and other significant contributors. Allen played on several of Coleman's albums, including his first, 1985's Motherland Pulse, and Coleman also played on her composition "The Dancer" on the LP, "In The Middle" (released in 1986), which featured veteran tap dancer, Lloyd Story. Allen also composed "The Glide Was In The Ride", performed by The Steve Coleman Group, listed on the New Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz.
Allen's own first album, The Printmakers, with Anthony Cox
and Andrew Cyrille
, from a year earlier, showcased the pianist's more avant-garde tendencies. In 1988 came Etudes, a cooperative trio effort with Charlie Haden
and Paul Motian
. In 1995, she was the first recipient of Soul Train’s Lady of Soul Award for jazz album of the year for Twenty-One, featuring Tony Williams and Ron Carter
, and the first woman, and youngest person to receive the Danish "Jazz Par Prize". Allen continued to push the improvisational envelope with Sound Museum, a 1996 recording made under the leadership of Ornette Coleman
. The Gathering followed in 1998. The Life of a Song was recorded with veterans Dave Holland
on bass and Jack DeJohnette
on drums. Her 2010 album "Flying Toward the Sound" was rated one of the Best Of 2010 on NPR, Downbeat, All About Jazz, and the Village Voice's Jazz Critics' Poll that year."Timeless Portraits and Dreams" featured NEA Jazz Masters Jimmy Cobb and Ron Carter, as well as opera icon George Shirley singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing", saxophonist and mentor Donald Walden, vocalist Carmen Lundy,
and the Atlanta Jazz Chorus under the direction of composer/multi-reedist Dwight Andrews.
In 2006, Allen was commissioned to compose "For The Healing Of The Nations" a Sacred Jazz Suite for Voices, written in Tribute to the Victims, Survivors and Their Families of the 9/11 Tragedy. The Suite was performed by Howard University's award winning Afro-Blue Jazz Choir, under direction of Connaitre Miller. Oliver Lake, Craig Harris, Andy Bey, Dwight Andrews, Mary Stallings,
Carmen Lundy, Nneena Freelon, Jay Hoggard, and other jazz greats also participated. The poetry was contributed by Sandra Turner-Barnes.
Geri Allen took part in a documentary film titled "Live Music, Community & Social Conscience" (2007) while performing at the Frog Island Music Festival in Michigan. A documentary film that looks at how music connects us to our humanity, and to each other regardless of borders, politics, culture economics, or religion.
Allen contributed original music to the documentary film Beah: A Black Woman Speaks, director Lisa Gay Hamilton, which received a Peabody Award. Also, Allen contributed orchestrations to Andy Bey's "American Song" which was nominated for a Grammy Award. She was the recipient of a 2008 Guggenheim fellowship
.Allen's composition "Refractions", was released, in response to her Guggenheim Fellowship in Composition, as "Flying Towards The Sound" along with three short art films by film maker/photographer, Carrie Mae Weems, for Motema Music in 2010. "Geri Allen & Timeline
Live" her second recording for Motema, featured bassist Kenny Davis, drummer Kassa Overall and tap dancer Maurice Chestnut, and was released simultaneously with "Flying Toward The Sound".
Allen received the "African-American Classical Music Award" from the Women of the New Jersey Chapter of Spelman College, and also received "A Salute To African-American Women: Phenomenal Woman" from the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Epsilon Chapter at the University of Michigan, in 2008. Allen received a nomination in 2011 for the NAACP Image Award for Best Jazz Album, "Geri Allen & Timeline Live". She was also nominated for both The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2011 under the Live Performance Album category, and for "Best Jazz Pianist", by the Jazz Journalists Association.
Ms. Allen performed this year in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monument Unveiling Concert, "A Theatrical & Musical Celebration Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., MLK: A Monumental Life", presented in Constitution Hall, by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Geri Allen currently teaches as Associate Professor of Jazz & Contemporary Improvisation at the School Of Music Theatre & Dance, at the University Of Michigan
.
With Ornette Coleman
With Steve Coleman
With Charlie Haden
With Oliver Lake
With Charles Lloyd
With Paul Motian
With Dewey Redman
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer/pianist educator jazz pianist, raised in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, and educated in the Detroit Public Schools
Detroit Public Schools
Detroit Public Schools is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The student population of the Detroit Public Schools is about 65,971 , which is down about 9.7% from the previous school year. Detroit Public Charter Schools educate an additional 56,000...
. Allen has worked with many of the greats of modern music, including Ornette Coleman, Ron Carter
Ron Carter
Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
, Ravi Coltrane
Ravi Coltrane
Ravi Coltrane is an American post-bop jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced artists such as pianist Luis Perdomo , guitarist David Gilmore and trumpeter Ralph Alessi....
, Tony Williams, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
, Betty Carter
Betty Carter
Betty Carter was an American jazz singer renowned for her improvisational technique and idiosyncratic vocal style...
, and Charles Lloyd. She cites her primary influences to be her parents, Mount Vernell Allen Jr, and Barbara Jean Allen, and her primary musical influences to be, mentors Marcus Belgrave, Donald Waldon, and Betty Carter, as well as pianists, Herbie Hancock, Mary Lou Williams, Hank Jones, Alice Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, Bud Powell and mentor, Dr. Billy Taylor. Allen is an Associate Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation in the School Of Music Theatre & Dance, at the University Of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
Biography
Allen received her early music education at the famed Cass Technical High SchoolCass Technical High School
The Cass Tech Technicians football team is a high school football program in Division 1 Public School League, representing the prestigious Cass Technical High School in Detroit, MI. Cass Tech High School has long been recognized nationwide for its extraordinary football program dating back to its...
in Detroit and the Jazz Development Workshop, where her mentor was the highly regarded trumpeter/teacher Marcus Belgrave
Marcus Belgrave
Marcus Belgrave is a jazz trumpet player from Detroit, born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He has recorded with a variety of famous musicians, bandleaders, and record labels since the 1950s. Notable among them are: Ray Charles, Charles Mingus, Gunther Schuller, Motown Records, Tribe Records, Blue Note...
. In 1979, Allen earned her bachelor's degree in jazz studies from Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
in Washington, D.C. She studied under composer Thomas Kerr, and pianists Raymond Jackson, John Malachi, Fred Irby, Arthur Dawkins, and Komla Amoaku. After graduation, she moved to New York City, where she studied with the veteran bop pianist Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron , is an American jazz pianist. He is the younger brother of tenor saxophonist Bill Barron, and known for his lyrical, adaptive style.-Biography:...
. From there, at the behest of the jazz educator Nathan Davis
Nathan Davis (saxophonist)
Nathan Davis is an American hard bop jazz multi-instrumentalist who plays the tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet and flute...
, Allen attended the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
, earning a master's degree in ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
, returning to New York in 1982, and began touring with Mary Wilson and the Supremes. In the mid-'80s, Allen became a charter member of both the Black Rock Coalition and the Brooklyn M-Base
M-Base
The term "M-Base" is used in several ways. In the 1980s, a loose collective of young African-American musicians including Steve Coleman, Graham Haynes, Cassandra Wilson, Geri Allen, Robin Eubanks, and Greg Osby emerged in Brooklyn with a new sound and specific ideas about creative expression...
movement a collective including saxophonist Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman, born , is an African American saxophone player, spontaneous composer, composer and band leader. His music and concepts have been a heavy influence on contemporary jazz.-Chicago:...
, and other significant contributors. Allen played on several of Coleman's albums, including his first, 1985's Motherland Pulse, and Coleman also played on her composition "The Dancer" on the LP, "In The Middle" (released in 1986), which featured veteran tap dancer, Lloyd Story. Allen also composed "The Glide Was In The Ride", performed by The Steve Coleman Group, listed on the New Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz.
Allen's own first album, The Printmakers, with Anthony Cox
Anthony Cox (musician)
Anthony Cox is an American jazz bass player.Played with: Geri Allen, Dewey Redman, Dave Douglas, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Gary Thomas, Marty Ehrlich, Ed Blackwell, Joe Lovano, Dave King, and others.Lives and plays in Minnesota....
and Andrew Cyrille
Andrew Cyrille
Andrew Charles Cyrille is an avant-garde jazz drummer.Cyrille was born in Brooklyn, New York into a family with a mother from Haiti. He began studying science at St...
, from a year earlier, showcased the pianist's more avant-garde tendencies. In 1988 came Etudes, a cooperative trio effort with Charlie Haden
Charlie Haden
Charles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
and Paul Motian
Paul Motian
Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups...
. In 1995, she was the first recipient of Soul Train’s Lady of Soul Award for jazz album of the year for Twenty-One, featuring Tony Williams and Ron Carter
Ron Carter
Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
, and the first woman, and youngest person to receive the Danish "Jazz Par Prize". Allen continued to push the improvisational envelope with Sound Museum, a 1996 recording made under the leadership of Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
. The Gathering followed in 1998. The Life of a Song was recorded with veterans Dave Holland
Dave Holland
Dave Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years....
on bass and Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
on drums. Her 2010 album "Flying Toward the Sound" was rated one of the Best Of 2010 on NPR, Downbeat, All About Jazz, and the Village Voice's Jazz Critics' Poll that year."Timeless Portraits and Dreams" featured NEA Jazz Masters Jimmy Cobb and Ron Carter, as well as opera icon George Shirley singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing", saxophonist and mentor Donald Walden, vocalist Carmen Lundy,
and the Atlanta Jazz Chorus under the direction of composer/multi-reedist Dwight Andrews.
In 2006, Allen was commissioned to compose "For The Healing Of The Nations" a Sacred Jazz Suite for Voices, written in Tribute to the Victims, Survivors and Their Families of the 9/11 Tragedy. The Suite was performed by Howard University's award winning Afro-Blue Jazz Choir, under direction of Connaitre Miller. Oliver Lake, Craig Harris, Andy Bey, Dwight Andrews, Mary Stallings,
Carmen Lundy, Nneena Freelon, Jay Hoggard, and other jazz greats also participated. The poetry was contributed by Sandra Turner-Barnes.
Geri Allen took part in a documentary film titled "Live Music, Community & Social Conscience" (2007) while performing at the Frog Island Music Festival in Michigan. A documentary film that looks at how music connects us to our humanity, and to each other regardless of borders, politics, culture economics, or religion.
Allen contributed original music to the documentary film Beah: A Black Woman Speaks, director Lisa Gay Hamilton, which received a Peabody Award. Also, Allen contributed orchestrations to Andy Bey's "American Song" which was nominated for a Grammy Award. She was the recipient of a 2008 Guggenheim fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
.Allen's composition "Refractions", was released, in response to her Guggenheim Fellowship in Composition, as "Flying Towards The Sound" along with three short art films by film maker/photographer, Carrie Mae Weems, for Motema Music in 2010. "Geri Allen & Timeline
Timeline (band)
Timeline is a contemporary jazz band consisting of Kenny Davis, , Kassa Overall , and Maurice Chestnut . They have been touring with Geri Allen since 2007. Their live album with Allen was a 2010 nominee for the Independent Music Awards. The group received the Monterey Jazz Festival's 2011 grant...
Live" her second recording for Motema, featured bassist Kenny Davis, drummer Kassa Overall and tap dancer Maurice Chestnut, and was released simultaneously with "Flying Toward The Sound".
Allen received the "African-American Classical Music Award" from the Women of the New Jersey Chapter of Spelman College, and also received "A Salute To African-American Women: Phenomenal Woman" from the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Epsilon Chapter at the University of Michigan, in 2008. Allen received a nomination in 2011 for the NAACP Image Award for Best Jazz Album, "Geri Allen & Timeline Live". She was also nominated for both The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2011 under the Live Performance Album category, and for "Best Jazz Pianist", by the Jazz Journalists Association.
Ms. Allen performed this year in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monument Unveiling Concert, "A Theatrical & Musical Celebration Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., MLK: A Monumental Life", presented in Constitution Hall, by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Geri Allen currently teaches as Associate Professor of Jazz & Contemporary Improvisation at the School Of Music Theatre & Dance, at the University Of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
As leader
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | A Child Is Born | Motéma Music Motéma Music Motéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City... |
| 2010 | Flying Toward the Sound | Motéma Music |
| 2010 | "Geri Allen & Timeline Timeline (band) Timeline is a contemporary jazz band consisting of Kenny Davis, , Kassa Overall , and Maurice Chestnut . They have been touring with Geri Allen since 2007. Their live album with Allen was a 2010 nominee for the Independent Music Awards. The group received the Monterey Jazz Festival's 2011 grant... " |
Motéma Music |
| 2006 | Timeless Portraits and Dreams | Telarc |
| 2004 | The Life of a Song | Telarc |
| 1998 | The Gathering | Polygram |
| 1996 | Some Aspects of Water (Live) | Storyville |
| 1996 | Eyes in the Back of Your Head | Blue Note |
| 1994 | Twenty One | Blue Note |
| 1992 | Maroons | Blue Note |
| 1990 | The Nurturer | Blue Note |
| 1990 | Live at the Village Vanguard | DIW |
| 1990 | Open on All Sides in the Middle | Polygram |
| 1989 | Segments | DIW |
| 1989 | In the Year of the Dragon | JMT |
| 1989 | Twylight | Polygram |
| 1985 | Home Grown | Minor Music |
| 1984 | The Printmakers | Minor Music |
As sidewoman
With Betty CarterBetty Carter
Betty Carter was an American jazz singer renowned for her improvisational technique and idiosyncratic vocal style...
- Droppin' ThingsDroppin' ThingsDroppin' Things is a 1990 live album by the American jazz singer Betty Carter.At the 32nd Grammy Awards, Carter's performance on this album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female.-Track listing:...
(Verve, 1993) - Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)
With Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
- Sound Museum: Hidden ManSound Museum: Hidden ManSound Museum: Hidden Man is an album by the American jazz composer and saxophonist Ornette Coleman recorded in 1996 and released on the Harmolodic/Verve label.-Reception:...
(Harmolodic/Verve, 1996) - Sound Museum: Three WomenSound Museum: Three WomenSound Museum: Three Women is an album by the American jazz composer and saxophonist Ornette Coleman recorded in 1996 and released on the Harmolodic/Verve label.-Reception:...
(Harmolodic/Verve, 1996)
With Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman, born , is an African American saxophone player, spontaneous composer, composer and band leader. His music and concepts have been a heavy influence on contemporary jazz.-Chicago:...
- Motherland Pulse (JMTJMT RecordsJMT Records was a record label that specialised in contemporary jazz. It was run by Stefan Winter.JMT recorded artists included Steve Coleman, Cassandra Wilson, Greg Osby, and Django Bates. The entire JMT catalogue is being re-released by Winter & Winter, Stefan Winter's new label....
, 1985) - And Five Elements: On the Edge of Tomorrow (JMT, 1986)
- And Five Elements: World Expansion (JMT, 1986)
- And Five Elements: Sine Die (Pangaea, 1986) on one track only
With Charlie Haden
Charlie Haden
Charles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
- EtudesEtudes (album)Etudes is an album by the American jazz bassist Charlie Haden recorded in 1987 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars stating "The communication between these three masterful players is quite impressive".-Track listing:#...
(Soul Note, 1987)
With Oliver Lake
Oliver Lake
Oliver Lake is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer and poet. He is known mainly on alto saxophone but also performs on soprano saxophone and flute....
- Expandable LanguageExpandable LanguageExpandable Language is an album by American jazz saxophonist Oliver Lake recorded in 1984 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars stating "This free bop session is one of altoist Oliver Lake's more rewarding sessions".-Track...
(Black Saint, 1984)
With Charles Lloyd
- Lift Every Voice (ECM, 2002)
- Jumping the CreekJumping the Creek-Track listing:# "Ne Me Quitte Pas " - 13:29# "Ken Katta Ma Om " - 5:45# "Angel Oak Revisited" - 3:34# "Canon Perdido" - 3:01# "Jumping the Creek" - 5:57# "The Sufi's Tears" - 3:06...
(ECM, 2004)
With Paul Motian
Paul Motian
Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups...
- Monk in MotianMonk in MotianMonk in Motian is the first album by Paul Motian to be released on the German JMT label. It was released in 1988 and features ten compositions by Thelonious Monk performed by Motian with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano. Geri Allen and Dewey Redman make guest appearances...
(JMT, 1988)
With Dewey Redman
Dewey Redman
Dewey Redman was an American jazz saxophonist, known for performing free jazz as a bandleader, and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett....
- Living on the EdgeLiving on the Edge (Dewey Redman album)Living on the Edge is an album by American jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman featuring performances recorded in 1989 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:...
(Black Saint, 1989)
External links
- Official Website
- Geri Allen at Motéma MusicMotéma MusicMotéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City...
- Geri Allen at All About Jazz
- Geri Allen at NPR Music
- Jazz Conversations with Eric Jackson: Geri Allen from WGBH Radio Boston
- Geri Allen at Rhapsody