Her Music Travels the World in Its Influences and Styles

Geri Allen laughs when she recalls how her first job as a jazz pianist ended suddenly, and most unceremoniously.

“I was about 17, and it was in Detroit, and this pianist named Ted Harris just slid me off the piano bench while we were playing a standard tune that I didn’t know,” said the now-critically acclaimed pianist-composer Allen, in a telephone interview from her home in Montclair, N.J.

“I think it was a good thing,” said Allen, who speaks with a light, friendly voice. “It taught me that nobody wants to be embarrassed and the best thing is for you to do your homework before you get up on stage. The more work you do at home, the better.”

Allen, an adventurous yet extremely musical artist who makes her Los Angeles club debut with bassist Dwayne Dolphin and drummer Tani Tabbal Tuesday through next Sunday at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood, learned her lesson well. Before her arrival in New York and subsequent splash on that formidable jazz scene in 1982, she studied ardently.

She spent several formative high school years at Marcus Belgrave’s Jazz Development Workshop in her native Detroit, performing with such Motor City notables as Belgrave and pianist Kenny Cox, and transcribing solos by such greats as pianists Bud Powell, Art Tatum, Herbie Hancock and Andrew Hill and reedman Eric Dolphy. Then she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in music from Howard University and a master’s degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Her formal and informal “street” jazz education, plus 10 years in New York, have turned Allen into a powerhouse pianist who embraces a wealth of musical moods. In fact, creative diversity is so central to her artistic philosophy that the mere idea of sticking to one jazz genre rather than branching out into many gets a rise out of her.

“Why can’t I explore the whole universe of music that’s available to me?” she asks.

“There’s a point of view that suggests that you can do something much better if you focus on one thing, but it’s my nature to be curious, and to go back and forth between different contexts, such as playing solo, trio and large groups, or using electronic stuff,” said Allen. “Each one of those headings has its own group of demands, and I like having to adjust to those. I’m inspired by those types of challenges.”

Allen has been, and continues to be, influenced and motivated by a profusion of styles and modes. Among these, she cited the tradition of jazz pianists from Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton to Thelonious Monk and Powell; African music, and African-derived music as heard in Brazil and the Caribbean; reggae, funk, Motown and European classical piano music.

Interestingly, Allen said that one individual stuck out as a dominant force in the foundation of her musical attitude: the innovative reed virtuoso Dolphy.

Dolphy, a native of Los Angeles, became a primary associate of Charles Mingus and John Coltrane, and recorded prolifically under his own name. His brief but illustrious career ended when he died in 1964 at age 36.

“I transcribed a lot of Eric’s solos,” Allen said. “I like the combination of his many interests, like the be-bop style of Charlie Parker, and his being able to stretch, to be edgy. I liked the combination of both of those worlds, and he incorporated them into his concept, in terms of composition and improvisation. I have a lot of interests, too, and I try to find a way to make them happen all at the same time.”

Allen believes she’s accomplished that goal for the first time on her upcoming album, “Maroons,” a Blue Note label release due out in early October. “The Nurturer,” her first collection on Blue Note, came out last year.

“My other albums have been genre albums, like ‘The Nurturer’, which was the most straight-ahead record I’ve made,” said Allen. “It was also more co-op, with others doing a lot of the writing; on ‘Maroons,’ I did most of it. So in a sense it represents some growth.”

“Maroons,” which spotlights trumpeters Wallace Roney and Belgrave, is a capacious survey of contemporary acoustic jazz avenues. “Laila’s House,” named for Allen’s 2 1/2-year-old daughter, has an angular, jaunty melody, yet also sounds vaguely like a nursery rhyme. “Dolphy’s Dance” resembles the attractive sense of curve and flow that the reedman’s originals possessed. “For John Malachai,” dedicated to the former Charlie Parker pianist who was one of Allen’s teachers at Howard, is slow and sensuous, and “Brooklyn Bound ‘A’ ” is a funk duet for bass and drums.

Asked if the new project is her best, Allen offered a nervous chuckle. “Oh, I don’t know about best,” she replied. “It’s the one that’s most interesting in that it’s the most recent. When I hear the record, I have peace of mind with it. I feel comfortable. It’s hard to talk about your own thing, but everybody played well.”

Allen was pleased to have Belgrave--who, in addition to Dolphy, is her principal guiding spirit and mentor--on the album. It was yet another pay-back to the man who gave her so much when she was getting started, artistically. “I feel really fortunate to have been around him,” said Allen, the student who has become the teacher, instructing in piano and jazz ensemble at Howard for the past two years. “He taught me the same way he was taught, in the traditional, street way. I learned from being around musicians, learning from the stories they’d tell, the suggestions they’d make as to how to approach things musically. It was great.”

Club owner Catalina Popescu said she is looking forward to Allen’s debut at her room. “She’s a young talent and her music is very exciting, very appealing,” Popescu said. “And the fact that she is a woman artist is a big thing to me. I’m really very excited to have her here.”

Geri Allen sees music, from which she receives joy as well as peace of mind, as a very fair art form. “It gives back what you give,” she said. “You give and you get a lot of return.”