PODCAST: Geri Allen

Beautiful writing and playing marks "Your Pure Self . . . Mother to Son," a solo piano composition from Geri Allen.

April 11, 2014

Pianist Geri Allen is, in every way, a master musician. She is recognized around the world as a great composer, player, bandleader, and teacher, and she has recorded, performed, or collaborated with a wide range of diverse artists, including Ravi Coltrane, Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright, Vernon Reid, Ron Carter, and Meshell Ndegeocello.

She has released nearly 30 albums under her name since her 1984 debut solo recording. Her latest release on the Motema label pays tribute to her hometown of Detroit and features originals as well as arrangements of tunes by pop artists such as Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.

Allen's awards including Howard University's Benny Golson Award and Spelman College's African Classical Music Award and she has won commissions from from many prominent organizations, most recently, the Trilogy opera company.

Along with Terence Blanchard, Billy Childs, Patrice Rushen, and many others, she will teach and perform as part of Berklee's State of Jazz Composition Symposium and Concert Series, April 22-27, 2014. 

Geri Allen
"Your Pure Self . . . Mother to Son"

Audio file