Motéma Music: MTM-42 
http://motema.downloadcentric.net/app?page=Product&service=external&sp=SD06036E80GA6062ILBVHV

Bio: GERI ALLEN 
http://www.motema.com/artist/geri-allen

Homepage: 
http://www.geriallen.com/

Personnel
~~~~~~~~
* Geri Allen: piano
* Kenny Davis: bass
* Kassa Overall: drums
* Maurice Chestnut: tap percussionist

Review
~~~~~~
By derek

Pianist Geri Allen is in the midst of an artistic and creative roll. Recorded at
Oberlin Conservatory, this densely-packed and highly satisfying performance
follows the release of a solo recital, also on Motéma and carries forward in a
similar vein with some marked departures. Chief among them is her crew of
assembled accompanists. Bassist Kenny Davis competes a bit with the cavernous
acoustics of the concert hall and there are moments during the more stentorian
ensemble passages where his strings endure compromised audibility though
fortunately his solo passages suffer no such hindrances. Conversely, drummer
Kassa Overall has no problem being heard, his aggressive percussive patterns
regularly matching Allen’s in terms of momentum and volume.

The inspired ensemble wildcard is tap dancer Maurice Chestnut, conscripted in
part to contribute and embody the project’s focus on honoring African American
dance traditions as well as those of the music realm. Allen name checks a good
dozen luminaries in either artistic arena as sources of inspiration among them
the likes of “Bojangles” Robinson, Ornette Coleman, Gregory Hines and Betty
Carter. None explicitly manifest in the music, but Allen makes other referents
abundantly clear in her set list choices. A lengthy contrafact of her “The
Western Wall” and Mal Waldron’s “Soul Eyes” spools out over nearly a third of an
hour. Later it’s a suturing of Gershwin’s “Embraceable You” and Billie Holiday’s
signature “Loverman”, each filtered through Allen’s grandly rhapsodic lens.

“Philly Joe” echoes its namesake in the opening snare shot from Overall. Much of
the piece’s second half gives over to a dialogue between the drummer and the
clickety-clacking tap play of Chestnut and the pair very nearly wears out their
welcome. The two paired-tune medleys follow broken by the shorter interstitial
pieces “Four By Five” by McCoy Tyner and the original “LWB’s House”. On both
Chestnut once again asserts himself, his steel-heeled syncopations blending
nimbly with Overall’s stampeding kit constructions. Like Davis, there are
moments where he has step lively to compete with the pounding surf generated by
the drums, but more often than not ably holds his own.

Allen directs the action like a matriarch at an extended family picnic,
marshalling each piece and each of her sidemen for maximum potential. It’s a by
turns exhilarating and exhausting journey, but audience rewards far outweigh
expenditures in the final tally. Passionate and magnanimous in her musical
explorations, Allen wouldn’t have it any other way.