Twenty One (Geri Allen album)

Twenty One
Studio album by Geri Allen
Released	November 1994
Recorded	March 23–24, 1994
Studio	Manhattan Center Studios, NYC
Genre	Jazz
Length	54:18
Label	Blue Note CDP 8 30028
Producer	Herb Jordan, Teo Macero
Geri Allen chronology
Maroons (1992) Twenty One (1994) Eyes in the Back of Your Head (1996)

Twenty One is an album by pianist Geri Allen with bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams, recorded in 1994 and released on the Blue Note label.^[1] The title of the album refers to the commitment Allen made at age 21 to continue and extend the tradition of the jazz masters.^[2]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]

AllMusic awarded the album 3½ stars, stating, "Allen's style is fairly original, with hints of Herbie Nichols, and her chancetaking but logical solos are generally quite stimulating".^[3]

Writer Gary Giddins called the album "a display of strength" and "a mature work by a performer... who was repositioning herself as a jazz centrist."^[4] He commented: "This is a trio fearsomely alive... The triumph of Twenty One is in the certainty with which Allen's individuality asserts itself in a setting that might have neutralized her."^[5]

Track listing

All compositions by Geri Allen except as indicated

1. "RTG" - 2:46
2. "If I Should Lose You" (Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin) - 4:36
3. "Drummer's Song" - 3:52
4. "Introspection/Thelonious" (Thelonious Monk) - 4:36
5. "A Beautiful Friendship" (Donald Kahn, Stanley Styne) - 3:23
6. "In the Morning" - 6:10
7. "Tea for Two" (Irving Caesar, Vincent Youmans) - 3:18
8. "Lullaby of the Leaves" (Bernice Petkere, Joe Young) - 5:15
9. "Feed the Fire" - 6:17
10. "Old Folks" (Dedette Lee Hill, Willard Robison) - 6:18
11. "A Place of Power" - 3:16
12. "In the Middle" - 4:25

Personnel

• Geri Allen - piano
• Ron Carter - bass
• Tony Williams - drums

References

1. Geri Allen catalog, accessed July 1, 2014
2. Giddins, Gary (1998). Visions of Jazz : The First Century. Oxford University Press. p. 620.
3. Yanow, S., AllMusic Review accessed July 1, 2014
4. Giddins, Gary (1998). Visions of Jazz : The First Century. Oxford University Press. p. 618.
5. Giddins, Gary (1998). Visions of Jazz : The First Century. Oxford University Press. p. 622.