Award-Winning Pianist GERI ALLEN
Explores The Great American Songbook of her Hometown with
GRAND RIVER CROSSINGS:
MOTOWN & MOTOR CITY INSPIRATIONS,
Available September 10 on Motéma Music
Solo Piano Soul-Jazz Odyssey Featuring Special Guests
Marcus Belgrave and David McMurray
Motéma Music is proud to release celebrated pianist-composer-bandleader Geri Allen's new album, Grand River Crossings: Motown and Motor City Inspirations.
The recording marks Allen's fourth for the label and third in a trilogy
of solo recordings beginning with the 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship
project, Flying Toward the Sound, followed by her spiritual Christmas
exploration, A Child is Born in 2011, and culminating this year with Grand River Crossings.
Named for the major thoroughfare near her childhood home in Detroit, Grand River Crossings
is a highly personal reflection on an influential time and place in
America - a cultural crossroads - with Motown at the center of it all.
Allen's
first recollection of exposure to the Motown sound was at age seven
when she heard Marvin Gaye's and Gladys Knight's "I Heard It Through
The Grapevine," and other hits on WCHB and WJLB Soul Radio the music
clearly had a profound effect on the young girl. Allen states: "The
music and the poetry still blows my mind each time I hear it. Marvin
Gaye was a brilliant improviser. You can see and hear his sensibility,
open fearlessness and soulful beauty on songs like 'What's
Going On', the iconic Civil Rights Anthem. The music continues to
connect to our lives today as though it were just recorded yesterday."
Sighting many critical and historical flashpoints in the history of
African American culture, Allen notes that Berry Gordy's Motown Records produced
an anthology of hits and, more importantly, a soundtrack for a
generation. That soundtrack includes the work of those who are now known
as some of the most influential artists of the 20th Century-Smokey
Robinson, The Supremes, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, the Contours,
Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the
Pips, Junior Walker & The All-Stars, among others.
On
this recording, Allen carefully crafts a collection of songs into
something truly personal. Compositions by NEA Jazz Master Gerald
Wilson, Detroit drum legend Roy Brooks and Allen's mentor Marcus
Belgrave, the great trumpeter Jazz Master Laureate of Detroit, who is
the last living original member of the Ray Charles Band, along with
Allen's own compositions, sit comfortably next to known anthems and pop
hits. Allen's musical performance ties together the choices of
repertoire she lovingly culled from the classic Motown & Motor City
Songbook and in doing so, she further stakes her claim as one of a long
lineage of Motor City artists whom have contributed to the fabric of
music history. This list includes iconic composer, bandleader, trumpeter
and Cass Tech alumnus Gerald Wilson, who is represented on the album's
closing track titled, "Nancy Jo." On Grand River Crossings,
Allen deftly merges and integrates genres- from classic to the modern,
from spirituals to the blues and beyond creating a one-of-a kind
listening experience.
Fellow
Detroit Cass Tech High School classmate, Greg Phillinganes, the
celebrated producer and musical director, writes in the liner notes for Grand River Crossings:
"through a body of work spanning many albums, Geri has become a force
of nature with this, her latest offering." He continues by saying,
"Welcome to the 'New Classical' music..."
For complete biographical information on Geri Allen, please visit her All Music Guide page.
Grand River Crossings: Motown and Motor City Inspirations - Track Listing
1. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (Michael Jackson)
2. Tears of a Clown (Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Henry Cosby)
3. That Girl (Stevie Wonder)
4. Grand River Crossings I (Geri Allen)
5. The Smart Set (Roy Brooks)
6. Let it Be (Paul McCartney)
7. Space Odyssey (Marcus Belgrave)
8. In Appreciation (Geri Allen)
9. Baby I Need Your Lovin' (Holland-Dozler-Holland)
10. Itching In My Heart (Holland-Dozler-Holland)
11. Stoned Love (Frank Wilson)
12. Grand River Crossings II (Geri Allen)
13. Inner City Blues (Marvin Gaye)
14. Save the Children (Marvin Gaye)
15. Nancy Joe (Gerald Wilson)
* Marcus Belgrave, Special Guest, track 5, 7, 15
* David McMurray, Special Guest, track 10
Upcoming Geri Allen Appearances:
** = ACS Trio: Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding
** July 23 / Jardins Palais Longchamp / Marseille, France
** July 24 / Arena Del Mare / Genova, Italy
** July 25 / Palazzo del Congressi Della Fiera di / Cagliari, Italy
** July 27 / Marciac Jazz Festival / Marciac, France
** August 28 / Hollywood Bowl / Los Angeles, CA
** August 29 / Red Butte Garden Theatre / Salt Lake City, UT
September 1 / Detroit Jazz Festival - Duo w. Danilo Perez / Detroit, MI
September 2 / Detroit Jazz Festival - w. Detroit Homecoming Band / Detroit, MI
Feat. George Bohannon, JD Allen, Bob Hurst, Karriem Riggins, Shelia Jordan
September 27 - 29 / Newark New Jersey Symphony - w. Afro Blue / Newark, NJ
** October 5 / Quick Center / Fairfield, CT
** October 11 / Kennedy Center / Washington, DC
** October 17 / Paramount Theatre / Austin, TX
** October 19 / Cullen Theatre / Houston, TX
** October 20 / Hiland Theater / Albuquerque, NM
** October 22 / Ikeda Theater / Mesa, AZ
** October 25 & 26 / Samueli Theatre / Costa Mesa, CA
** October 27 / The Broad Stage / Santa Monica, CA
October 31- November 2 / The University of Pittsburgh Jazz Seminar 2013:
Celebrating Nathan Davis, / Pittsburgh, PA
Feat. All-Stars Jeff Watts, Randy Brecker, Ravi Coltrane, Carmen Lundy
Russell Malone, Kenny Davis and other surprise guests
** November 7 / Helsinki Music Center / Finland, Helsinki
** November 8 / Stockholm Konserthuset / Sweden, Stockholm
** November 9 / National Jazzscene / Oslo, Norway
** November 11 / Gothenburg Konserthus / Gothenburg, Sweden
** November 12 / Master Class (Women in Jazz) / Gothenburg, Sweden
** November 13 / Stadtcasino / Basel, Switzerland
** November 14 / Paulu de la Musica / Barcelona, Spain
** November 15 / Sala Mutiusos / Zaragoza, Spain
** November 17 / Barbican Centre / London, England
** November 22 / Massey Hall / Toronto, Canada
** November 24 / Boston Symphony Hall / Boston, MA
December 17 - 22 / The Village Vanguard - w. Quartet / New York, New York
Feat. Ravi Coltrane, Jeff Watts, James Genus
About Motéma Music:
The Harlem-based label Motéma Music, led by Jana
Herzen, specializes in jazz and other creative music that spans genres
and generations. The company's varied international roster, including
Geri Allen, has received GRAMMY® nominations
in jazz, reggae and R&B, and features established music icons such
as NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston and Jamaican jazz legend Monty
Alexander; and electro/acoustic trendsetter Marc Cary and newly emerging
visionary artist such as Lakecia Benjamin and Jaimeo Brown and Gregory
Porter. For more information: www.motema.com.
Geri Allen· Grand River Crossings: Motown and Motor City Inspirations
Motéma Music · Release Date: September 10, 2013
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Amy Miller · amy@dlmediamusic.com
Jordy Freed · jordy@dlmediamusic.com
Information and press materials (including album covers, promotional photos
and bios) on all DL Media artists can be found at our new website: dlmediamusic.com
