Geri Allen
Geri Antoinette Allen (June 12, 1957 – June 27, 2017) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. She taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Pittsburgh.
Geri Allen
June 12, 1957
June 27, 2017 (aged 60)
3
Musician, educator, composer
Piano
1982–2017
Early life and education[edit]
Allen was born in Pontiac, Michigan, on June 12, 1957, and grew up in Detroit.[1] "Her father, Mount Allen Jr, was a school principal, her mother, Barbara, a government administrator in the defence industry."[2] Allen was educated in Detroit Public Schools.[3] She started playing the piano at the age of seven, and settled on becoming a jazz pianist in her early teens.[2]
Allen graduated from Howard University's jazz studies program in 1979.[4] She then continued her studies: with pianist Kenny Barron in New York;[2] and at the University of Pittsburgh, where she completed a master's degree in ethnomusicology in 1982.[4] After this, she returned to New York.[2]
Filmography[edit]
Geri Allen portrays jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams and performs with the jazz band in the Robert Altman film Kansas City.