Geri Allen         |    Versão em Inglês

A pianista Geri Allen é reverenciada por fãs, críticos e a imprensa do jazz como “uma das musicistas mais originais de sua geração.” (Jazz Times Magazine). Nascida em Detroit, Michigan, Allen começou a estudar piano com sete anos e logo virou aluna do trompetista Marcus Belgrave, do percussionista Roy Brooks e Harold McKinney, através do Jazz Development Workshop. Mais tarde se formou na Howard University e em seguida completou um mestrado em etnomusicologia na Universidade de Pittsburgh. Desde 1990, ensina na Howard University por cinco anos.

Na início da década de oitenta, Allen entrou rapidamente no circuito de jazz de Nova York. Geri Allen mergulha em tradição- blues e gospel no geral, Monk e Ellington especificamente, ao mesmo tempo em que abre territórios novos carregados de ritmos. Geri Allen já tocou com diversos músicos incluindo os saxofonistas Oliver Lake e Dewey Redman, os vocalistas Betty Carter e Mary Wilson (dos Supremes) e o baixista de hip-hop e funk Me’shell NdegeOcello entre outros. Em Junho de 99, Geri Allen trabalhou como diretora musical de “The Music Never Stops”, um tributo `a Betty Carter lançado em Nova York.

Seu último lançamento, The Gathering, demonstra a amplitude de suas transições criativas.

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Geri Allen

Pianist Geri Allen is heralded by fans, critics and the press as “one of the most original and in-demand musicians of her generation.” (Jazz Times Magazine) Born in Detroit, Michigan, Allen began studying piano at age seven and soon was under the tutelage of trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, drummer Roy Brooks and Harold McKinney through the Jazz Development Workshop. She attended the famous Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan, going on to earn her B.A. from Howard University. Geri went on to complete a Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1990, she became a professor at Howard University where she taught for five years.

In the early eighties, Allen quickly became an influential player on the New York jazz scene. Called by The Philadelphia Inquirer a “questing goddess of the keyboard and player of undeniable vigor and drive,” Geri Allen has played with an eclectic line of musicians including saxophonists Oliver Lake and Dewey Redman, vocalists Betty Carter and Mary Wilson (the Supremes) and hip-hop/funk bassist Me’shell NdegeOcello among others. And in June of 1999, Allen served as musical director for “The Music Never Stops,” a tribute to the late Ms. Betty Carter held in New York.

Geri Allen’s career runs the gamut from performing, composing and teaching music to acting and being a mother. Her latest release, The Gathering, reflects Allen’s “many creative transitions” of the last three to four years and her full visionary skill and talent as a master musician.

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