Geri Allen - A Child Is Born (2011) 320 Kbps

22 Oct, 15:05
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Artist: Geri Allen
Title Of Album: A Child Is Born
Year Of Release: 2011
Label: Motéma Music
Genre: Contemporary Jazz
Quality: Mp3
Bitrate: 320 kbps
Total Time: 00:50:37
Total Size: 128 Mb
WebSite:

Tracklist:

01. Angels We Have Heard On High (Christmas Traditional) (04:25)
02. A Child Is Born (Thaddeus Jones) (03:44)
03. Imagining Gena At Sunrise (01:11)
04. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (I) (Christmas Traditional) (07:31)
05. Journey to Bethlehem (Geri Allen) (01:13)
06. We Three Kings (John Henry Hopkins, Jr.) (05:08)
07. Little Drummer Boy (Katherine K. Davis) (05:00)
08. God Ist With Us (Geri Allen) (02:16)
09. Amazing Grace (John Newton) (02:43)
10. Christmas Medley: Away in a Manger / What Child Is This / Silent Night (Franz Gruber & Traditional) (04:32)
11. Imagining Gena At Sunset (Ethiopian Traditional) (00:33)
12. Let Us Break Bread Together (Lawrance Collingwood) (05:00)
13. I Came Upon a Midnight Clear (Richard Storrs Willis) (06:24)
14. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (II) (Christmas Traditional) (00:56)

Personnel:
Geri Allen - Fazioli Pianoforte F228, Fazioli Pianoforte F278, Farfisa Organ, Concert Celesta, Fender Rhodes Electric Piano, Hohner Clavinet
The Women Of The Gee's Bend Quilt Collective - vocals (4)
Carolyn Brewer - vocals (5, 8)
Farah Jasmine Griffin - voice (spoken word) (5)
Barbara Roney, Connaitre Miller - vocals (8)

Recorded on the Fazioli Piano (F228) on January 14-15, 2011 at Union Country Performing Arts Center, Rahway, NJ,
and on the Fazioli Piano (F278) on April 27-28, 2011 at Klavierhaus, NYC

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.

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