Geri Allen: Timeless Portraits and Dreams

Status of copy at Case Memorial Library
Nate Chinen wrote in the New York Times: "After taking the stage at Zankel Hall on Wednesday night, the pianist Geri Allen … began to play 'Oh! Freedom' with unmistakable authority. Unaccompanied for the moment, she spelled out the melody in a stately procession of two-handed chords. Her voicings were rich, resonant and complex; her touch was declarative but supple. … Ms. Allen segued from 'Oh! Freedom' into 'Melchezedik,' a modal piece by the saxophonist Antoine Roney, her brother-in-law. Settling into a groove, she indulged in some chromatic cascades evocative of Herbie Hancock. Her rhythm section, the versatile bassist Darryl Hall and the venerable drummer Jimmy Cobb, supported her with floating ease. Ms. Allen was employing the same opening combination as on 'Timeless Portraits and Dreams,' her powerfully realized recent album. Released by Telarc, it’s a meditation on African-American accomplishment from a modern jazz perspective. The trumpeter Wallace Roney, her husband, makes an appearance; so does the Atlanta Jazz Chorus" ("Showing Off Fleet Fingers," 3/3/07).