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.
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 seven, 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: Sound Museum: Hidden Man and Sound Museum: Three Women.
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. 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.
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 (first woman recipient), 1996
Soul Trains Lady of Soul Award (first recipient) for jazz album of the year for Twenty-One, 1995
Discography
As leader/co-leader
Main sources:
As sidewoman
Main source:
With Franco Ambrosetti
Movies (Enja, 1987) – rec. 1986
Movies Too (Enja, 1988)
With The Batson Brothers
Three Pianos for Jimi (Douglas, 1998)
With Betty Carter
Droppin' Things (Verve, 1990) – live
Feed the Fire (Verve, 1994) – live rec. 1983
With Ornette Coleman
Sound Museum: Hidden Man (Harmolodic/Verve, 1996) Sound Museum: Three Women (Harmolodic/Verve, 1996)
With Steve Coleman
Motherland Pulse (JMT, 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) – 1 track
With Charlie Haden
1987: Etudes (Soul Note, 1988) 1989: The Montreal Tapes: with Geri Allen and Paul Motian (Verve, 1997) 1989: The Montreal Tapes: Liberation Music Orchestra (Verve, 1999)
With Oliver Lake
Expandable Language (Black Saint, 1984) Otherside (Gramavision, 1988) Talkin' Stick (Passin' Thru, 2000)
With Charles Lloyd
Lift Every Voice (ECM, 2002) Jumping the Creek (ECM, 2005) – rec. 2004
With Wallace Roney
Munchin' (Muse, 1993) Crunchin' (Muse, 1993) Mistérios (Warner Bros., 1994) Village (Warner Bros, 1997) No Room for Argument (Stretch, 2000) Prototype (HighNote, 2004) Mystikal (HighNote, 2005) Jazz (Highnote, 2007)
With Trio 3 (Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman & Andrew Cyrille) At This Time (Intakt, 2009) Celebrating Mary Lou Williams–Live at Birdland New York (Intakt, 2011)