Flying Toward the Sound

Flying Toward the Sound
Studio album by
Released2010
RecordedDecember 18–20, 2008
Klavierhaus, NYC
GenreJazz
Length60:06
LabelMotéma MTM-37
ProducerGeri Allen
Geri Allen chronology
Timeless Portraits and Dreams
(2006)
Flying Toward the Sound
(2010)
Geri Allen & Timeline Live
(2009)

Flying Toward the Sound (subtitled A Solo Piano Excursion Inspired by Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock) is a solo album by pianist Geri Allen recorded in 2008 and released on the Motéma label in 2010.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Guardian[3]
PopMatters[4]

AllMusic awarded the album 4+12 stars, stating, "Flying Toward the Sound is a major work for solo piano: courageous, vulnerable, poetically articulated, and technically awe-inspiring in form and execution".[2] The Guardian review by John Fordham awarded the album 3 stars, noting, "It's a specialised homage to pianists and pianos, but this is the work of a formidable virtuoso".[3] PopMatters reviewer Will Layman said, "I’d been thinking that Geri Allen had somehow gone flat in recent years, but I was wrong. She is just more catholic in the way she packages her intelligent, brave playing"[4] JazzTimes stated, "the ghost of each pianist’s influence inhabits the "Refractions" suite... Nonetheless, every note of music is unmistakably Allen: clear, carefully plotted (even in the tangles of notes that shape the title track), and part of a larger soundscape that's as surreal as it is melodic".[5] All About Jazz enthused, "Jazz has been quoted as being "music that walks a tightrope without a net." Allen's Flying Toward the Sound effectively fits that description—daring, vulnerable, and breathtaking".[6]

Track listing

All compositions by Geri Allen

  1. "Refraction I: Flying Toward the Sound" - 6:02
  2. "Refraction II: Red Velvet in Winter" - 5:56
  3. "Refraction III: Dancing Mystic Poets at Midnight" - 4:20
  4. "Refraction IV: God's Ancient Sky" - 16:03
  5. "Refraction V: Dancing Mystic Poets at Twylight" - 3:22
  6. "Refraction VI: Faith Carriers of Life" - 6:58
  7. "Refraction VII: Dancing Mystic Poets at Dawn" - 5:43
  8. "Refraction VIII: Flying Toward the Sound (Reprise)" - 6:53
  9. "Your Pure Self (Mother to Son)" - 5:07
  10. Video 1: "Flying Toward the Sound" - 4:08
  11. Video 2: "Red Velvet in Winter" - 4:03
  12. Video 3: "Faith Carriers of Life" - 4:40

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Geri Allen catalog, accessed June 30, 2014
  2. ^ a b Jurek, T., AllMusic Review accessed November 18, 2019
  3. ^ a b Fordham, J., The Guardian Review, September 9, 2011
  4. ^ a b Layman, W., PopMatters Review, November 18, 2010
  5. ^ West, M. J., JazzTimes Review, July/August 2010
  6. ^ Turner, M. F., All About Jazz Review, May 2, 2010