A Child Is Born (album)

A Child Is Born
A Child Is Born
Studio album by Geri Allen
Released	October 11, 2011
Recorded	January 14–15 and April 27–28, 2011
Studio	Union Country Performing Arts Center, Rahway, NJ and Klavierhaus, NYC
Genre	Jazz, Christmas
Length	50:31
Label	Motéma MTM-69
Producer	Geri Allen & Kunle Mwanga
Geri Allen chronology

A Child Is Born is an album of Christmas carols by pianist Geri Allen with vocalists recorded in 2011 and released on the Motéma label.^[1]

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
The Guardian	^[3]
PopMatters	^[4]

AllMusic awarded the album 4 stars, stating, "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".^[2] The Guardian review by John Fordham awarded the album 3 stars, noting, "Wherever you're coming from, this remains the work of a gifted improviser exploring timelessly haunting songs".^[3] PopMatters reviewer Josh Langhoff said, "Geri Allen’s mostly-solo, mostly-jazz-piano album A Child Is Born flows through traditional Christmas songs and hymns with much facility, some invention, and a couple of surprises"^[4]

Track listing[]

All compositions Traditional except where noted.

"Angels We Have Heard On High" – 4:24
"A Child Is Born" (Thad Jones, Alec Wilder) – 3:43
"Imagining Gena at Sunrise" – 1:10
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" – 7:31
"Journey to Bethlehem" (Geri Allen) – 1:12
"We Three Kings" (John Henry Hopkins, Jr." – 5:08
"Little Drummer Boy" (Katherine Kennicott Davis) – 5:00
"God Is With Us" (Allen) – 2:16
"Amazing Grace" (John Newton/Traditional) – 2:43
"Christmas Medley: Away in a Manger/What Child Is This?/Silent Night" (Traditional/William Chatterton Dix/Franz Xaver Gruber) – 4:32
"Imagining Gena At Sunset" – 0:32
"Let Us Break Bread Together" – 5:00
"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (Richard Storrs Willis) – 6:24
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" – 0:56

Personnel[]

Geri Allen – Fazioli piano, celeste, Farfisa organ, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hohner clavinet
Carolyn Brewer (tracks 5 & 8), Connaitre Miller (track 8), Barbara Roney (track 8) – vocals
Farah Jasmine Griffin – spoken word (track 5)
Women Of the Gee's Bend Quilt Collective sampled and engineered by Jaimeo Brown (track 4)

References[]

^ Geri Allen catalog, accessed July 2, 2014
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Ruhlmann, W., Allmusic Review accessed June 30, 2014
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Fordham, J., The Guardian Review, December 23, 2011
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Langhoff, J., PopMatters Review, December 11, 2011

[1] Geri Allen catalog, accessed July 2, 2014

[Allmusic-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b Ruhlmann, W., Allmusic Review accessed June 30, 2014

[Guardian-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Fordham, J., The Guardian Review, December 23, 2011

[PopMatters-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b Langhoff, J., PopMatters Review, December 11, 2011

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show v t Geri Allen
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, except where noted.
Albums as leader or co-leader	The Printmakers (1984) Home Grown (1985) Open on All Sides in the Middle (1986) In the Year of the Dragon (1989) Segments (1989) Twylight (1989) Live at the Village Vanguard (1990) The Nurturer (1990) Maroons (1992) Twenty One (1994) Eyes in the Back of Your Head (1995–96) Some Aspects of Water (1996) The Gathering (1998) The Life of a Song (2004) Timeless Portraits and Dreams (2006) Flying Toward the Sound (2008) Geri Allen & Timeline Live (2009) A Child Is Born (2011) Grand River Crossings (2012)
With Oliver Lake	Expandable Language (1984) Otherside (1988) Talkin' Stick (1997) At This Time (2008)
With others	Movies (Franco Ambrosetti, 1986) Movies Too (Franco Ambrosetti, 1988) The Collective (Cecil Brooks III, 1989) Duet in Detroit (Roy Brooks, 1989) Droppin' Things (Betty Carter, 1990) Feed the Fire (Betty Carter, 1993) Sound Museum: Hidden Man (Ornette Coleman, 1996) Sound Museum: Three Women (Ornette Coleman, 1996) Motherland Pulse (Steve Coleman, 1985) Flute Talk (Buddy Collette, 1988) Etudes (Charlie Haden, 1987) The Montreal Tapes: with Geri Allen and Paul Motian (Charlie Haden, 1989) The Montreal Tapes: Liberation Music Orchestra (Charlie Haden, 1989) Reflections in Change (Craig Handy, 1999) Lift Every Voice (Charles Lloyd, 2002) Jumping the Creek (Charles Lloyd, 2004) Decision in Paradise (Frank Lowe, 1984) Monk in Motian (Paul Motian, 1988) Mindgames (Greg Osby, 1988) Living on the Edge (Dewey Redman, 1989) Crunchin' (Wallace Roney, 1993) Munchin' (Wallace Roney, 1993) Bemsha Swing (Woody Shaw, 1986) By Any Means Necessary (Gary Thomas, 1989)