Geri Allen
Geri Antoinette Allen was an American jazz pianist, composer, and recording artist. In addition to her career as a performer and bandleader, Allen was an associate professor of music and the director of the Jazz Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh.
Early life and education
Allen was born in Pontiac, Michigan, on June 12, 1957, and grew up in Detroit. "Her father, Mount Allen Jr, was a school principal, her mother, Barbara, a government administrator in the defence industry." Allen was educated in Detroit Public Schools. She started playing the piano at the age of 7, and settled on becoming a jazz pianist in her early teens.Allen graduated from Howard University's jazz studies program in 1979. She then continued her studies: with pianist Kenny Barron in New York; and at the University of Pittsburgh, where she completed a master's degree in ethnomusicology in 1982. After this, she returned to New York.
Later life and career
Allen became involved in the M-Base collective in New York. Her recording debut as a leader was in 1984, resulting in The Printmakers. This trio album, with bassist Anthony Cox and drummer Andrew Cyrille, also featured some of Allen's compositions.Allen married trumpeter Wallace Roney in 1995. They had a daughter and a son; the marriage ended in divorce. Allen was awarded the Jazzpar Prize in 1996. In the same year, she recorded two albums with Ornette Coleman: ' and '.
In 2006, Allen composed "For the Healing of the Nations", a suite written in tribute to the victims and survivors of the September 11 attacks. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008.
Allen was a longtime resident of Montclair, New Jersey. She became director of the jazz studies program at the University of Pittsburgh in 2013.
Allen died on June 27, 2017, two weeks after her 60th birthday, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after suffering from cancer.
Awards
- Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee, 2014
- Guggenheim Fellowship, 2008
- African American Classical Music Award from Spelman College, 2007
- The Benny Golson Jazz Master Award, 2005
- Distinguished Alumni Award from Howard, 1996
- Danish Jazzpar Prize, 1996
- Soul Trains Lady of Soul Award for jazz album of the year for Twenty-One, 1995''
Discography
As leader/co-leader
Main sources:Year recorded | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
1984 | The Printmakers | Minor Music | Trio, with Anthony Cox, Andrew Cyrille |
1985 | Home Grown | Minor Music | Solo piano |
1986 | Open on All Sides in the Middle | Minor Music | With Rayse Biggs, Robin Eubanks, David McMurray, Steve Coleman, Jaribu Shahid, Tani Tabbal, Shahita Nurallah ; plus guests Mino Cinelu, Lloyd Storey, Marcus Belgrave |
1989 | Twylight | Minor Music | Trio, with Jaribu Shahid, Tani Tabbal, plus Sadiq Bey, Eli Fountain as guests, and Clarice Taylor Bell on one track |
1989 | In the Year of the Dragon | JMT | Trio, with Charlie Haden, Paul Motian ; one track quartet, with Juan Lazaro Mendolas added |
1989 | Segments | DIW | Trio, with Charlie Haden, Paul Motian |
1990 | The Nurturer | Blue Note | Sextet, with Marcus Belgrave, Kenny Garrett, Robert Hurst, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Eli Fountain |
1990 | Live at the Village Vanguard | DIW | Trio, with Charlie Haden, Paul Motian ; in concert |
1992 | Maroons | Blue Note | With Marcus Belgrave and Wallace Roney, Anthony Cox and Dwayne Dolphin, Pheeroan akLaff and Tani Tabbal in various combinations |
1994 | Twenty One | Blue Note | Trio, with Ron Carter, Tony Williams |
1995–96 | Eyes in the Back of Your Head | Blue Note | Some tracks solo piano/synthesizer; some duos with Ornette Coleman, Wallace Roney and Cyro Baptista ; some trio tracks, with Roney and Baptista |
1996 | Some Aspects of Water | Storyville | With Henrik Bolberg Pedersen, Johnny Coles, Kjeld Ipsen, Axel Windfeld, Michael Hove, Uffe Markussen, Palle Danielsson, Lenny White |
1998 | The Gathering | Verve | With Wallace Roney, Robin Eubanks, Dwight Andrews, Vernon Reid, Ralphe Armstrong, Buster Williams, Lenny White, Mino Cinelu in various combinations |
2004 | The Life of a Song | Telarc | Trio, with Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette ; one track sextet, with Marcus Belgrave, Dwight Andrews, Clifton Anderson added |
2006 | Timeless Portraits and Dreams | Telarc | Trio, with Ron Carter, Jimmy Cobb ; some tracks solo piano; some tracks with Wallace Roney, Donald Walden, Carmen Lundy, George Shirley and The Atlanta Jazz Chorus added in various combinations |
2008 | Flying Toward the Sound | Motéma | Solo piano |
2010 | Geri Allen & Timeline Live | Motéma | Quartet, with Kenny Davis, Kassa Overall, Maurice Chestnut |
2011 | A Child Is Born | Motéma | Solo keyboards; some tracks with Carolyn Brewer, Connaitre Miller, Barbara Roney and Farah Jasmine Griffin added in various combinations |
2012 | Grand River Crossings | Motéma | Solo piano; some tracks duo, with Marcus Belgrave ; one track duo with David McMurray |
2015 | Perfection | Motéma | Trio, with David Murray, Terri Lyne Carrington ; one track sextet, with and Wallace Roney, Jr., Craig Harris, Charnett Moffett added |
As sidewoman
Main source:With Franco Ambrosetti
- Movies
- Movies Too
- The Collective
- Duet in Detroit
- Droppin' Things
- Feed the Fire
- '
- '
- Motherland Pulse
- And Five Elements: On the Edge of Tomorrow
- And Five Elements: World Expansion
- And Five Elements: Sine Die on one track only
- Flute Talk with James Newton
- Etudes
- '
- '
- Reflections in Change
- Expandable Language
- Otherside
- Talkin' Stick
- At This Time
- Lift Every Voice
- Jumping the Creek
- Decision in Paradise
- Monk in Motian
- Mindgames
- Living on the Edge
With Gregory Charles Royal
- Dream Come True
- Bemsha Swing
- Bushman Song
With Trio 3
- At This Time
- Celebrating Mary Lou Williams
- Unity
- Zodiac Suite: Revisited