“Jazz pianist, Geri Allen has taken the freedom of Jazz and combined it with the cultural freedom movements that have paralleled the evolution of Jazz itself.” -Tavis Smiley
Jazz Café at Music Hall is proud to present pianist, composer and educator, Geri Allen for 2 intimate performances at Jazz Café at Music Hall, Friday, September 12th at 10 PM and 11:50 PM.
Geri Allen is an internationally renown, award-winning composerAnd pianist. Since 1982, she has recorded or performed with musicians as diverseAs Charles Lloyd (with whom she has toured for several years), Mal Waldron,Sir Simon Rattle, guitarist, Vernon Reid, Clark Terry, George Shirley, Ron Carter, M’chelle Ndegeocello, Dewey Redman, Mary Wilson and the Supremes,Tony Williams, Betty Carter, Charlie Haden, Hal Wilner, Mino Cinelu, Ruth Brown, Oliver Lake, Marianne Faithful, Wayne Shorter and Charlie Haden.
Her unique combination of Post-Bop sensibilities and innovative takes on contemporary standards make her not only one of the preeminent female jazz performers on the planet but a master interpreter of compositions by McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis to name only a few. She has released a number of recordings under her own name including, The Nurturer, Twenty One, Maroons, The Gathering and most recently, the ambitious and critically acclaimed double CD Geri Allen: “Timeless Portraits and Dreams.”
As a composer Ms Allen has been commissioned by The Lincoln Center, Stanford University and Meet The Composer, who commissioned, "For The Healing of the Nations", which were composed in tribute to the victims and survivors of the 9/11 tragedies. It premiered September 10th, 2006 and was also performed October 20, 2007 at The Rialto Center for the Arts.Born in Pontiac, Michigan and raised in Detroit, Ms Allen attended the Cass Technical High School where one of her instructors was legendary jazz trumpeter, Marcus Belgrave, who ignited the young woman’s interest in Jazz and composition who would then matriculate to Howard University in Washington DC, where she would also eventually hold the position of Assistant Professor of Music before earning her Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology from The University of Pittsburgh.
Ms Allen is presently an Associate Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the University of Michigan.Ms. Allen has been the recipient of numerous recent honors, including,-The Key to the City of Detroit and the City of Cleveland,-The Benny Golson Award form Howard University, -The African Classical Music Award from Spelman, College.-Ms. Allen also distinguished herself as the first woman and youngest person to win the Danish Jazz par prize.-In April 2008, Geri Allen was awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship Award.
For more info on Geri Allen please check- http://www.geriallen.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geri_Allen
Tickets are $14 and are available at Music Hall Box Office or at TicketMaster
Jazz Café at Music Hall
350 Madison
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 887- 8500