Geri Allen: A Child Is Born

Allen, Geri

1 Angels We Have Heard On High - 4:24 2 A Child Is Born - 3:43 3 Imagining Gena At Sunrise - 1:10 4 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (1) - 7:31 5 Journey To Bethlehem - 1:12 6 We Three Kings - 5:08 7 Little Drummer Boy - 5:00 8 God Is With Us - 2:16 9 Amazing Grace - 2:43 10 Christmas Medley - 4:32 11 Imagining Gena At Sunset - :32 12 Let Us Break Bread Together - 5:00 13 It Came Upon A Midnight Clear - 6:24 14 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (2) - :56

Christmas albums tend to be a blend of the traditional and familiar with the style of the recording artist, and jazz pianist Geri Allen's A Child Is Born is no exception. Allen has a technically proficient, often elaborate style as a pianist, and she uses it in her evocations of Christmas carols and hymns. There is a slight nod to Ethiopia in the brief versions of "Imagining Gena at Sunrise" and "Imagining Gena at Sunset," as well as the cover art of a black Madonna and child by Kabuya Pamela Bowens, and Allen occasionally employs a Fender Rhodes electric piano or even a Hohner clavinet for unusual effects, notably on her original "God Is with Us" (a musical setting of the Biblical passage Matthew 1:23). Most of the time, however, she takes on tunes known by most Western listeners, playing the melodies in strong right-hand statements backed by often contrasting left-hand rhythms on acoustic piano. Then, she takes off into complex improvisations that only touch back now and then to the melodies. Her playing sometimes has a new age quality, like George Winston in a slightly jazzier mode. So, this is a holiday collection for the more adventurous jazz piano fan, rather than for someone looking for a safe, warm, and fuzzy set of jazzed-up Christmas tunes. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi