The Gathering (Geri Allen album)
| The Gathering | ||||
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| Studio album by Geri Allen | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Verve Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
61:04 |
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Studio (s) |
Sorcerer Sound Studio, New York City |
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The Gathering (dt .: The meeting ) is a jazz album of Geri Allen , which was added on 19, 20, 21 and 25 February 1998 in New York City and in the same year at Verve Records was released.
The album
After working with Palle Danielsson , Lenny White and Johnny Coles on the occasion of the Danish Jazzpar Prize and with Ornette Coleman ( Eyes in the Back of Your Head ) in 1997, pianist Geri Allen recorded an album of her own compositions, in which she played changing line-ups; the one she played in the classic piano trio formation ( Buster Williams , bass and Lenny White again, drums) and in a trio with guitar ( Vernon Reid ) and percussion ( mino cinelu ), the other in varied quartet - and quintet -Besetzungen . She brought in the wind players Dwight Andrews (woodwind), Robin Eubanks (trombone) and her husband, trumpeter Wallace Roney (as in the short poem Baby's Breath , with muted horn harmonies and Mino Cinelus percussive accents). In the final title, Angels , Allen and Roney included their children Wallace Roney Jr. and Laila Roney instrumentally and vocal.
The album begins with the title track, a “true tour de force ” through the hauntingly driving, clockwork-like beat , while brass players Wallace Roney and Robin Eubanks are underneath. In Gabriel's Royal Blue Reals , the group is expanded to include flautist Dwight Andrews and bassist Ralphe Armstrong, but the larger wind section is shortened to a two-note refrain. Allen, Buster Williams and Lenny White, who were a regular working trio at the time of the recording , play the free-floating Soul Heir in a 7/8 and 4/4 tango rhythm, the light matter and motif of the sunrise that are kept in suspension in Daybreak & Dreams .
Shortly after the pianist's first album was released on the major label of the PolyGram group, the Verve label ended its contract with Geri Allen.
Track list
- Geri Allen: The Gathering (Verve 557-614-2)
- The Gathering - 5:22
- Dark Prince - 5:47
- Sleepin 'Pretty - 6:48
- Light Matter - 6:56
- Baby's Breath (For Little Barbara) - 1:13
- Ray - 5:22
- Soul Beir - 6:02
- Joy and Wonder - 4:40
- Gabriel's Royal Blue Reals - 6:31
- Daybreak and Dreams - 5:41
- Angels - 6:42
- All compositions are by Geri Allen
reception
Michael G. Nastos gave the album four stars in Allmusic and particularly emphasized the role of producer Teo Macero. This is not only a "masterful orchestrator, but has inspired everyone to the current music with a larger ensemble - which is his case."
- " As complete and realized as many of Allen's recordings are, this one displays all of her immense powers coming to light at the same time. It's immaculately programmed, perfectly executed music that has a haunting quality overall, but enough punch, innovation, and style to rank it highly among her best projects, and comes highly recommended. "
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Richard Cook and Brian Morton awarded the album the highest rating of four stars in The Penguin Guide to Jazz, calling it Allen's most satisfactory album to date. They particularly highlighted Teo Macero's activity as a producer. The pianist's compositions are a synthesis of many ideas that have flowed into her work over the past decade; it is also their most heavily textured album, which is characterized above all by "the wonderful contributions" by Vernon Reid and the multi-instrumentalist Dwight Andrews. The real revelation, however, is Lenny White, who creates a crisp and penetrating pulse from the first track on . In the trio recordings he creates such a complex handwriting that brings back memories of the late drummer Tony Williams , but overall it is more of an approximation of Paul Motian . Geri Allen's phrasing has never been so relaxed or permeated with so much emotion. The highlights include the authors Sleepin 'Pretty , in which the pianist "floats above a soundscape of bass and bass clarinet and quotes Mary Lou Williams between the door and the angel ," and Ray , in which Allen replaces the orthodox rhythm section with Reid and Cinelu vary. The brass players Wallace Roney and Robin Eubanks would be used sparingly, but most effectively; the trumpeter plays rather soft notes in this session, preferring a smooth, middle register and articulating patiently, in contrast to the vigor and fire of his own early records.
In his review of the album for JazzTimes , Willard Jenkins wrote that the pianist was a composer in progress in the tradition of Mary Lou Williams (who played Allen in Robert Altman's film Kansas City in 1996 ). Allen's compositional focus is haunting and clear, very reflective and at times quite contemplative. Especially in the titles with the wind section there is “a bittersweet quality” in Geri Allen's compositions, for example in the title track The Gathering and the lovely Royal Garden Reels . The harmonies used reminded Herbie Hancock , especially his Speak Like a Child Session from 1968. Pianistically, “Allen's work may reflect Hancock's influence more clearly than before, although it is far from blunt mimicry or theft; Herbie is just one of their recognizable sources. ”Vernon Reid's guitar, whether electric or acoustic, adds bite and a nervous quality, especially his electric guitar in Dark Prince , a track where Buster Williams' haunting bass throbbing in Lenny White's sensitive frame floats with the basin , creating a tangible tension in the title. Regardless of the compositional focus, a number of piano numbers can be heard on the album that highlight Allen's achievements on the piano, such as the trio numbers Light Matter and Daybreak and Dreams .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Review of Michael G. Nastos' album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- ↑ a b Cook / Morton, p. 28 (6th edition, 2003).
- ^ The Gathering at Verve Music group
- ↑ Willard Jenkins: Review of the album in JazzTimes 1998