Word: allene
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Charlie Haden, with Geri Allen, Paul Motian; and with Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Paul Motian...
...live recordings, the Rubalcaba performance, which constituted the now-established pianist's North American debut, is more immediately arresting than the other, which features the relatively subtler, more angular style of pianist Geri Allen. Allen's set features more integrated playing and arguably more depth than Rubalcaba's virtuostic display, however. In the end, both recordings prove to be quality examples of contemporary small-group jazz. They are worthwhile, though not essential, acquisitions for serious acoustic jazz fans...
Haden's trio with Geri Allen feels less like a vehicle for showcasing the pianist and more like a veteran, integrated combo--no surprise, since they had played and recorded together well prior to the engagement, unlike the group with Rubalcaba. Allen's set is also evenly divided between the compositions of Allen, Haden and Motian, while Rubalcaba's featured three Haden tunes and three standards...
...Allen's playing is more difficult to grasp than Rubalcaba's--her playing is more harmonically complex and less predictable. She is also a less flashy player, although she possesses considerable technical agility. Her tendency to improvise relatively freely of bar downbeats, as well as her use of parallel octave lines and other mannerisms, suggest a strong Bill Evans influence. Her music flows a little more freely than Rubalcaba's, at least in these performances, and she introduces elements of chaos and abstract texture that the other trio never attempts...
This is most evident in Motian's frenetic "Fiasco," in which Allen's improvisation degenerates into seemingly random clusters of notes amidst heightened activity in the rhythm section. But Haden takes his most intriguing solo of the two sets during this tune, coaxing unworldly, industrial and percussive sounds from his instrument...