Geri Allen developed her chops at the Cass Technical High School, in Detroit, her home town. After completing her master's degree, the composer and pianist launched her career in New York City. In the mid 1980s, she collaborated with the M-Base Collective before recording The Printmakers, her first disc as leader (1984). At the same time, Allen became increasingly involved in collaborations. In particular, she formed a trio with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian and, under the leadership of Ornette Coleman, applied her improvisational skills, as evidenced by the recording Sound Museum (1996). For The Life of a Song (2004), she teamed up with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. Her disc for solo piano, Flying Toward the Sound, was released in 2010. Two years later, she collaborated with singer Elizabeth Kontomanou on the album Secret of the Wind.