Geri_Allen

Geri Allen

Geri Allen

American jazz musician and educator (1957–2017)

Geri Antoinette Allen (June 12, 1957 – June 27, 2017) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. She taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Pittsburgh.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Allen at Detroit Jazz Fest in 2009

Early life and education

Allen was born in Pontiac, Michigan, on June 12, 1957, and grew up in Detroit.[1] "Her father, Mount Allen Jr, was a school principal, her mother, Barbara, a government administrator in the defence industry."[2] Allen was educated in Detroit Public Schools.[3] She started playing the piano at the age of seven, and settled on becoming a jazz pianist in her early teens.[2]

Allen graduated from Howard University's jazz studies program in 1979.[4] She then continued her studies: with pianist Kenny Barron in New York;[2] and at the University of Pittsburgh, where she completed a master's degree in ethnomusicology in 1982.[4] After this, she returned to New York.[2]

Later life and career

Allen with Trio 3 in 2011

Allen became involved in the M-Base collective in New York.[2] Her recording debut as a leader was in 1984, resulting in The Printmakers.[1] This trio album, with bassist Anthony Cox and drummer Andrew Cyrille, also featured some of Allen's compositions.[1]

Allen married trumpeter Wallace Roney in 1995.[2] They had a daughter and a son; the marriage ended in divorce.[2] Allen was awarded the Jazzpar Prize in 1996.[2] In the same year, she recorded two albums with Ornette Coleman: Sound Museum: Hidden Man and Sound Museum: Three Women.[4]

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.[2] She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008.[2]

Allen was a longtime resident of Montclair, New Jersey.[5] For 10 years she taught jazz and improvisational studies at the University of Michigan, and she became director of the jazz studies program at the University of Pittsburgh in 2013.[1]

Allen died on June 27, 2017, two weeks after her 60th birthday, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after suffering from cancer.[6]

Awards

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Main sources:[14][15]

More information Recording date, Title ...

As sidewoman

Main source:[18]

Filmography

Geri Allen portrays jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams and performs with the jazz band in the Robert Altman film Kansas City.

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Russonello, Giovanni (June 27, 2017). "Geri Allen, Pianist Who Reconciled Jazz's Far-Flung Styles, Dies at 60". The New York Times.
  2. [2]
    Fordham, John (July 3, 2017). "Geri Allen Obituary". The Guardian.
  3. [3]
    Cook, Richard (2005). Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia. London: Penguin Books. p. 8. ISBN 0-141-00646-3.
  4. [4]
    Schudel, Matt (June 28, 2017). "Geri Allen, Versatile Jazz Pianist, Composer and Educator, Dies at 60". The Washington Post.
  5. [5]
    Staudter, Thomas. "Making Jazz and Family, Home and the Road Work Together", The New York Times, September 9, 2001. Accessed September 18, 2017. "Her luggage already packed for a late afternoon flight to San Francisco, Geri Allen, a jazz pianist, still had several precious hours remaining before her departure out of Newark, so she was filling the morning in the company of three children, ages 3 to 11. Ms. Allen's husband, Wallace Roney, a trumpeter, had returned home after midnight from an evening rehearsal at Carnegie Hall, and to respect his need to sleep, mother and children romped in the yard until growling stomachs sent them back inside to the breakfast table.... Ms. Allen and Mr. Roney have lived in their three-story frame house in Montclair, a short trip from Manhattan, since 1991." Geri Allen and Wallace Roney were divorced in 2008.
  6. [6]
    Adlet, David R. (June 27, 2017). "Geri Allen, Brilliantly Expressive Pianist, Composer and Educator, Dies at 60". WGBO. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  7. [7]
    "Jimmy Page, Geri Allen, Valerie Simpson, Thara Memory to Receive Honorary Degrees | Berklee College of Music". www.berklee.edu. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  8. [8]
    "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Geri Allen". Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  9. [9]
    "Geri Allen, Pianist, Composer And Educator, Dies At 60". NPR.org. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  10. [10]
    "Benny Golson Award". Howard University Jazz Ensemble. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  11. [11]
    "Howard University Alumni Outcomes Assessment Project: Perspectives Along the Path to Truth and Service" (PDF). Howard University. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  12. [12]
    Shipton, Alyn (2022). On Jazz: A Personal Journey. Cambridge University Press. p. 247. ISBN 978-1-108-99833-8.
  13. [13]
    "As Gender Bias Fades, New Artists Emerge". Billboard. June 29, 1996. p. 94.
  14. [14]
    Jazzlists: Geri Allen: leader and co-leader discography. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  15. [15]
    "Geri Allen Discography", JazzDisco.org. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  16. [16]
    "Geri Allen - Live at the Village Vanguard: Unissued Tracks". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  17. [17]
    "Geri Allen & Kurt Rosenwinkel: A Lovesome Thing". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  18. [18]
    Jazzlists: Geri Allen sidewoman: main albums and selected single artist collections. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  19. [19]
    Triad - Three Pianos for Jimi at Discogs (list of releases)
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