Geri Allen

Born on June 12, 1957 in Pontiac, Michigan, Geri Allen was a jazz pianist, composer and educator. Growing up in Detroit, she began playing the piano at the age of 7. In her early teens, she turned her attention to jazz piano. She studied jazz at Howard University in Washington, D.C., graduating in 1979. After spending time in New York studying with pianist Kenny Barron, she completed her master’s degree at the University of Pittsburgh in 1982. Returning to New York, she became involved with the M-Base collective, which was a group of young African-American musicians expressing themselves in new ways. She formed a trio and issued her first album, The Printmakers, in 1984. She followed that with a series of albums in different formations including solo (1985’s Home Grown), big band (1986’s Open on All Sides in the Middle), trio (1989’s Twilight, In the Year of the Dragon, and Segments), and sextet (1990’s Blue Note Records debut The Nurturer). Her 1992 album Maroons featured Wallace Roney on trumpet. Allen and Roney were married in 1995, but the marriage would later end in divorce. She continued to keep active, releasing album on the Blue Note, Verve, Storyville, Telarc, and Motéma labels. Throughout her career, she also appeared as a sidewoman on albums by Betty Carter, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, Ernie Watts, Woody Shaw, Paul Motian, and many others. She received many awards throughout her career including Soul Train’s Lady of Soul Award, the Benny Golson Jazz Mater Award, Honorary Doctorate of Music (from Berklee College of Music), and more. In 2013, she became the director of jazz studies program at the University of Pittsburgh. Geri Allen died on June 27, 2017 from cancer.

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