As a 6th grader Geri Allen attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp as part of a rich early education in music. Born in Pontiac on June 12, 1957, Geri Allen developed through the community of Detroit musicians, notably under wing of Marcus Belgrave, and lived a life filled with music, an example to the world of how jazz is a verb with a long, continuous history of upholding musical standards. In 2008, through a grant from the Holland Area Arts Council, she drove up from Ann Arbor, where she taught at the University of Michigan for ten years, and taped an hour long performance and interview you can hear in the link above.
I recommend translating this article by Mimmo Stolfi from Italian — it draws out, in clear examples, why Geri Allen is revered in the world of music to this day: La forza silenziosa di Geri Allen.
And please join Blue Lake Public Radio tonight from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on 88.9 FM or 90.3 FM, streaming live right here for our program remembering Geri Allen. If you miss it tonight, please catch it this weekend on our jazz stream via the link above. (Found on the far right side of the blue bar showing what's streaming live there's a tile that reads "All Streams" which appears as a star-like icon on a smart phone. Either way, click there to navigate to the jazz stream).
And thank you for listening.
