- Born
- Died
- Birth nameGeri Antoinette Allen
- Geri Allen was born on June 12, 1957 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. She was a composer and actress, known for Drugstore Cowboy (1989), Kansas City (1996) and Afterglow (1997). She was married to Wallace Roney. She died on June 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- SpouseWallace Roney(1995 - ?) (divorced, 3 children)
- ChildrenLaila RoneyBarbara RoneyWallace Roney Jr
- ParentsMount Allen JrBarbara Allen
- Her father was a principal in the Detroit public schools, and her mother was a defense contract administrator for the U.S. government.
- She started playing piano at age seven and attended Cass Technical High School. She graduated from Howard University, one of the first students to earn a jazz studies degree there. She earned an M.A. in ethnomusicology from the University of Pittsburgh.
- Her jazz improvisations can be heard on albums she recorded with saxophonist-composers Ornette Coleman and Oliver Lake, drummer Ralph Peterson Jr., bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Paul Motian, and many others.
- Has three children: Laila, Barbara and Wallace.
- Of Cherokee ancestry.
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