Geri Antoinette Allen (June 12, 1957 – June 27, 2017) 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: 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. 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
Discography
As leader/co-leader
Main sources:
As sidewoman
Main source:
With Franco Ambrosetti
With Cecil Brooks III
With Roy Brooks
With Betty Carter
With Ornette Coleman
With Steve Coleman
With Buddy Collette
With Charlie Haden
With Craig Handy
With Oliver Lake
With Charles Lloyd
With Frank Lowe
With Paul Motian
With Greg Osby
With Dewey Redman
With Wallace Roney
With Gregory Charles Royal
With Woody Shaw
With John Stubblefield
With Gary Thomas
With Trio 3 (Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman & Andrew Cyrille)
With Ernie Watts
With the Mary Lou Williams Collective
With "Various"
Filmography
Geri Allen portrays jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams and performs with the jazz band in the Robert Altman film Kansas City.
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