Customer Reviews

Timeless Portraits & Dreams (Bonus CD)

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having heard good things about geri allen, i want to like her music under her own name, but until this cd i've been disappointed. her piano reminds of me cocktail lounge music or ramsey lewis, styles alright in their place, but not what i look for when i want to own jazz piano. and her quintet work doesn't hold my attention.

portrait and dreams is a new format for her, one that works extremely well, a muted jazz vocal chorus on some numbers, interesting piano solo work and interpretations, particularly nino rota's la strada, also crisp playing by wallace roney on trumpet and donald walden on tenor sax. geri allen's piano is also a fine match for carmen lundy's voice.

this is the geri allen recording worth owning.

Ever since I first saw her live a couple of years ago, I've been a Geri Allen fan. Now that I've listened to this CD - the first of hers I own and not the last - I can't help but wonder why she isn't a big star in this genre.

Throughout the CD, her skill can be heard. Like the best pianists, she's a master at being able to alternately carry a song or provide background inflections that are subtle yet can't be missed. It's clear right away on the beautiful "Melchezedik", then the short but sweet "Portraits and Dreams", which she does a reprise of at the end. She shines alongside Carmen Lundy's vocals in "Well Done", an aptly titled song, shines solo on "La Strada" and "Nearly". Later, she gets together with husband Wallace Roney on "In Real Time" and later "Our Lady", the latter of which she wrote as a tribute to Billie Holiday.

A separate CD with this contains a nice rendition of "Lift Every Voice and Sing", the Black National Anthem.

This is a beautiful CD, and if you haven't bought a Geri Allen CD before, get this one. It will make you want to buy all of her other ones and see her live.