A sure harbinger of the season is the annual onslaught of holiday releases by the usual pop/rock/R&B acts of the moment. The only problem is that there are only so many versions and renditions of the old familiar tunes and most of them have been done to (and beyond) death.
Luckily, every so often we get a reprieve for the seasonal silliness and find something different, full of class reverence and sophistication that conveys the awe and wonder of the reason for the season. Such is the case with this offering from Geri Allen, “A Child is Born.”
“‘A Child is Born’ celebrates the joy and wonder of the birth of Jesus Christ, the spirit of hope and gratitude we share together with our loved ones,” shared Allen. “It renews us, and we are reminded of the most important things in life all over again.“
The project is the convergence of many touchstones in her life, said Allen, director of Jazz Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Among them a 2006 trip to Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity, the birthplace of Jesus Christ. “This was a marker in my life, and I knew it was important to express the joy and wonder I experienced there through music.”
The result is an assortment of audio feast of traditional Western holiday music, but with an afrocentric affirmation as she makes the old and familiar new again. Her first holiday release, it reflects Allen’s sensibilities and spirituality. “I wanted to make a spiritually-based Christmas record in the tradition of Mary Lou Williams, Duke Ellington, John and Alice Coltrane and Yusef Lateef, who were all devoted to a spiritual quest through music.”
“The title track “A Child Is Born,” composed by Thad Jones is a jazz classic, and finds a perfect setting in the Christmas canon,” said Allen. “Most of the songs are traditional Christmas songs, which we all know and love, however I have composed new music as well.”
True to the jazz idiom, Allen improvisations and interpretations are adventurous, not background music. You’ll want to pay attention to cultural heritage markings, such as the voices of the women of the Gees Bend Quilt Collective from Alabama on the first track and or in the brief versions of “Imagining Gena at Sunrise” and “Imagining Gena at Sunrise.”
“I draw on traditions around the world including a Gena melody which I improvise on,” said Allen. “Gena is a unique aspect of a traditional Ethiopian Christmas celebration and involves the game of Gena. Legend states that the game was being played by the shepherds who where tending their flocks the night that Jesus was born.”
The same reverence is heard on an original piece, “God is with Us,“ a musical interpretation of biblical passage Matthew 1:23.”
If you find yourself finding it difficult to hone in on the reason for the season, give a listen to Geri Allen’s “A Child is Born” to reconnect with the true meaning of Christmas.
