Carl Allen (drummer)

Carl Lee Allen ( born April 25, 1961 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American drummer and music producer of modern jazz. Influenced by Art Blakey and Elvin Jones, he is considered one of the most important drummers in Neobop.

Life and work

Allen, who initially had private lessons on the drums, accompanied already by the age of sixteen in the local clubs musicians such as Sonny Stitt, Red Holloway and James Moody. From 1979 he studied at the University of Wisconsin- Green Bay, 1981 to 1983 at William Paterson College. He then moved to New York City, where in 1982 a member of the band by Freddie Hubbard, in which he remained until 1990. In parallel, the drummer worked with George Coleman, Jackie McLean, Steve Turré and the quintet of Donald Harrison and Terence Blanchard. In 1988 he founded with Vincent Herring, the label Big Apple Productions. In the 1990s, performances and recordings were with the trio of Benny Green ( Greens, 1991, That's Right, 1993) and with his own bands in the center. In his bands, he worked as a musician Vincent Herring, Mulgrew Miller, Roy Hargrove and Nicholas Payton and put several albums before. In the group The Art of Elvin he gave a tribute to his drum models. He was also involved in recordings of musicians like Don Braden, Donald Byrd, Woody Shaw, Hendrik Meurkens, Dewey Redman, Donald Brown, Steve Wilson, Javon Jackson, Phil Woods, Wayne Escoffery or Benny Golson and toured with Bobby Hutcherson. He also produced albums by artists such as Roy Hargrove, Cyrus Chestnut, Eric Reed, Dewey Redman. Pharoah Sanders and Management Lund.

Allen, who also teaches in the context of anti- drug campaigns, is the artistic director of the jazz program of the Juilliard School since 2008.

Disco Graphical Notes

• Piccadilly Square (1989)
• Testimonial (1994 )
• The Dark Side of Dewey (1996 )
• With Rodney Whitaker Get Ready (2007)

Lexigraphic entries

• Martin Kunzler: Jazz Encyclopedia. Volume 1 Rowohlt, Reinbek 2002, ISBN 3-499-16512-0.