Geri Allen (born June 12, 1957 in
Pontiac, Michigan) is an American composer, educator, and
jazz pianist, raised in
Detroit, Michigan, and educated in the
Detroit Public Schools. Allen has worked with many of the greats of modern music, including
Ornette Coleman,
Ron Carter,
Tony Williams,
Dave Holland,
Jack DeJohnette, and
Charles Lloyd. She cites her primary influences to be her parents, Mount Vernell Allen Jr, and Barbara Jean Allen, and her primary musical influences to be mentors
Marcus Belgrave, Donald Walden, and
Betty Carter, as well as pianists
Herbie Hancock,
Mary Lou Williams,
Hank Jones,
Alice Coltrane,
Cecil Taylor, Thelonious Monk,
McCoy Tyner,
Bud Powell, and mentor Dr.
Billy Taylor. Allen is an Associate Professor of Music and the Director of the Jazz Studies Program at the
University of Pittsburgh.