Search - Geri Allen :: Timeless Portraits & Dreams (Bonus CD)

Pianist Geri AllenÂ?s 2004 Telarc debut, The Life of a Song, garnered well-deserved praise from all corners. The New York Times called it Â"her best in years,Â" while JazzTimes called her compositions Â"freshÂ" and Â"distinctive.Â" ICE compared her playing to that of Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock, but suggested that her original compositions Â"were inspired by deeper, more personal connections.Â" These deep and personal connections are at the core of Geri Allen and her music. Timeless Portraits and Dreams, her new Telarc release set for retail on August 22, 2006, is far more than just another installment in her twenty-year body of work. An amalgam of original compositions, jazz standards and spirituals, the album is AllenÂ?s acknowledgement and affirmation of the artistic, historical and even spiritual connections that have made jazz the powerful cultural force that it has become over the past century. Allen is joined on Timeless Portraits and Dreams by a stellar group of supporting players. Rounding out the core trio are bassist Ron Carter and drummer Jimmy Cobb. In addition, the roster of special guests includes vocalists Carmen Lundy and George Shirley (the first African-American tenor to sing at the Metropolitan Opera), trumpeter Wallace Roney, tenor saxophonist Donald Walden and the Atlanta Jazz Chorus (under the direction of Dwight Andrews).