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Geri Allen
American jazz musician and educator (1957–2017) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
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Early life and education
Allen was born in Pontiac, Michigan, on June 12, 1957, and grew up in Detroit.[2] "Her father, Mount Allen Jr, was a school principal, her mother, Barbara, a government administrator in the defence industry."[3] Allen was educated in Detroit Public Schools.[4] She started playing the piano at the age of seven, and settled on becoming a jazz pianist in her early teens.[3]
Allen graduated from Howard University's jazz studies program in 1979.[5] She then continued her studies: with pianist Kenny Barron in New York;[3] and at the University of Pittsburgh, where she completed a master's degree in ethnomusicology in 1982.[5] After this, she returned to New York.[3]
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Career
Allen became involved in the M-Base collective in New York.[3] Her recording debut as a leader was in 1984, resulting in The Printmakers.[2] This trio album, with bassist Anthony Cox and drummer Andrew Cyrille, also featured some of Allen's compositions.[2] Allen was awarded the Jazzpar Prize in 1996.[3] In the same year, she recorded two albums with Ornette Coleman: Sound Museum: Hidden Man and Sound Museum: Three Women.[5]
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.[3] She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008.[3] Allen was a longtime resident of Montclair, New Jersey.[6] 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.[2]
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Personal life
Allen married trumpeter Wallace Roney in 1995.[7] They had a daughter and a son; the marriage ended in divorce.[7]
Death
Allen died on June 27, 2017, two weeks after her 60th birthday, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after suffering from cancer.[8]
Accolades
- Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee, 2014[9]
- Guggenheim Fellowship, 2008[10]
- African American Classical Music Award from Spelman College, 2007[11]
- The Benny Golson Jazz Master Award, 2005[12]
- Distinguished Alumni Award from Howard, 1996[13]
- Danish Jazzpar Prize (first woman recipient), 1996[14][15]
- Soul Train's Lady of Soul Award (first recipient) for jazz album of the year for Twenty-One, 1995[15]
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Discography
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As leader/co-leader
As sidewoman
Main source:[20]
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With Franco Ambrosetti
With The Batson Brothers
With Betty Carter
With Ornette Coleman
With Steve Coleman
With Charlie Haden
With Oliver Lake
With Charles Lloyd
With Wallace Roney
With Trio 3 (Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman & Andrew Cyrille)
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With others
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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
External links
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