The Student Becomes the Teacher

March is National Women’s History Month! We’re sharing stories about some of the most accomplished women in jazz, both nationally and locally. We hope you enjoy this tribute to the women of jazz. 

Geri Allen is a jazz composer, pianist, record producer and bandleader but one of her most important roles is that of jazz educator. She has taught at Howard University, the University of Michigan and the New England Conservatory, she’s been a Guggenheim Fellow and she is currently the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. For Allen, it’s about playing the music and paying it forward.

Born in 1956 near Detroit, Michigan, Allen says her strongest influences were her parents, Mount Vernell, Jr. and Barbara Jean. She attended Detroit Public Schools all her young life and music was a critical part of that education. She earned a B.A. from Howard and an M.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and then headed to New York in 1983, where she soon began touring with Mary Wilson and the Supremes. During the same time, she became a charter member of the Black Rock Coalition and the Brooklyn-based M movement, a vibrant musical collective. Allen embraced jazz;  progressive jazz, post-bop, blues music, funk and  gospel.

She was considered avant garde, a musician who pushed the “improvisational envelope,” but her unique style was quickly rewarded. In 1995, she was the first recipient of Soul Train’s Lady of Soul award for Jazz Album of the Year (“Twenty-One”).  She was also the youngest person and first woman to receive the prestigious Danish Jazz Par Prize. In 2006, she was commissioned to compose a piece in memory of 9/11 and created “For the Healing of Nations, A Sacred Jazz Suite for Voices.” In 2013,  Allen was recognized for an album that returned her to her roots,  “Grand River Crossing Motown and Motor City Inspirations.”

Musically speaking, little is off limits for the talented Allen. She has performed in trios, quartets and solo, with dancers, in front of film montages and she has recently been exploring children’s music from around the globe. Her jazz reach is limitless because, in addition to sharing her talents with the world, she is introducing a new generation of students to the beauty and power of jazz.