J. D. Allen III (born John Daniel Allen III, December 11, 1972) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

tenor saxophonist and composer.

Career

After moving to New York City, Allen played with

George Cables George Andrew Cables (born November 14, 1944) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Early life Cables was born in New York City, United States. He was initially taught piano by his mother. He then studied at the High School of Performing Art ...

Betty Carter Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones; May 16, 1929 – September 26, 1998) was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative inter ...

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, Frank Foster,

Butch Morris Lawrence Douglas "Butch" Morris (February 10, 1947 – January 29, 2013) was an American cornetist, composer and conductor. He was known for pioneering his structural improvisation method, ''Conduction'', which he utilized on many recordings. ...

, David Murray, and

Wallace Roney Wallace Roney (May 25, 1960 – March 31, 2020) was an American jazz ( hard bop and post-bop) trumpeter. He won one Grammy award and was nominated twice. Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis from ...

. Closer to his generation, he has played with

Lucian Ban Lucian Ban (born 1969) is a Romanian-American jazz pianist. Biography Raised in the tiny farming village of Teaca (Transylvania, Romania), Ban grew up listening to folk songs performed at weddings, birthdays, holidays, and other celebrations. A ...

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, Gerald Cleaver, Dave Douglas,

Orrin Evans Orrin Evans (born 28 March 1975) is an American jazz pianist. Evans was born in Trenton, New Jersey, Trenton, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia.Lutz, Phillip. "Orrin Evans The Instigator." ''Downbeat'' 81.11 (2014): 42-45. Print. He attended ...

, Duane Eubanks, Marcus Gilmore,

Russell Gunn Russell Gunn (born October 20, 1971, in Chicago) is an American contemporary jazz trumpeter. He grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois playing trumpet. As a kid his musical interest was hip hop, with LL Cool J being his first music idol. His project ...

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, Elisabeth Kontomanou,

Meshell Ndegeocello Meshell Ndegeocello ( ; born Michelle Lynn Johnson on August 29, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her mid-career work. ...

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, Eric Revis. Allen's first solo album, ''In Search Of'' ( Red Records, 1999), led to his selection as Best New Artist in Italy. In 2003, his second album (''Pharaoh's Children'') was chosen as a top ten album of the year by '' Jazziz'' magazine. Ten years later he was named best composer and best tenor saxophonist in the Critics' Poll at ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' magazine. A critic at NPR picked his album ''Victory'' ( Sunnyside, 2011) for the number three spot in the top twenty albums of 2011. Allen also works under the pseudonyms "Bigger Thomas" and "Cross Damon".

Discography

As leader

* ''In Search Of'' (

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

, 1999) * ''Pharaoh's Children'' ( Criss Cross, 2003) * ''I Am I Am'' ( Sunnyside, 2008) * ''Shine!'' (Sunnyside, 2009) * ''Victory!'' (Sunnyside, 2011) * ''The Matador and the Bull'' (

Savant Savant syndrome ( , ) is a phenomenon where someone demonstrates exceptional aptitude in one domain, such as art or mathematics, despite significant social or intellectual impairment. Those with the condition generally have a neurodevel ...

, 2012) * ''Grace'' (Savant, 2013) * ''Bloom'' (Savant, 2014) * ''Graffiti'' (Savant, 2015) * ''Americana: Musings on Jazz and Blues'' (Savant, 2016) * ''Radio Flyer'' (Savant, 2017) * ''Love Stone'' (Savant, 2018) * ''Barracoon'' (Savant, 2019) * ''Toys / Die Dreaming'' (Savant, 2020) * ''Queen City'' (Savant, 2021) * ''Americana, Vol. 2'' (Savant, 2022) * ''This'' (Savant, 2023) * ''The Dark, The Light, The Grey and the Colorful'' (Savant, 2024)

As co-leader

* ''Red Stars'' (2004) with

Victor Lewis Victor Lewis (born May 20, 1950) is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator. Early life Victor Lewis was born on May 20, 1950, in Omaha, Nebraska. His father, Richard Lewis, who played saxophone and mother, Camille, a pianist-vocalist ...

and Fabio Morgera

As sideman

With

* '' Works on Canvas'' (2000) * '' Someday...'' (2001) * '' Music for the New Millennium'' (2006) With

* ''The Band – Live at Widener University'' (2005) * ''Easy Now'' (2005) * ''Liberation Blues'' (2014) With

* ''Trap Dancer'' (1998) * ''Winard'' (1999) With Lisa Hilton * ''Twilight & Blues'' (2009) * ''Underground'' (2011) * ''American Impressions'' (2012) * ''Kaleidoscope'' (2014) * ''Horizons'' (2015) * ''Nocturnal'' (2016) * ''Escapism'' (2017) * ''Chalkboard Destiny'' (2019) * ''life is beautiful'' (2022) With Fabio Morgera * ''Slick'' (1998) * ''Colors'' (2000) With

* ''November'' (2008) * ''

Men of Honor A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fathe ...

'' (2010) * '' The Talented Mr. Pelt'' (2011) * ''Soul'' (2012) With Tarbaby * ''Tarbaby'' (2009) * ''The End of Fear'' (2010) With others * Duane Eubanks, ''Second Take'' (1998) * Elisabeth Kontomanou, ''Embrace'' (1998) *

, ''Blue on the D.L.'' (2002) * Eric Revis, ''Tales of a Stuttering Mime'' (2004) * Kerem Görsev, ''New York Days'' (2005) *

, ''The Tuba Project'' (2005) * Stacy Dillard, ''cPhyve'' (2006) * Stacy Dillard, ''Elite State of Mind'' (2006) *

Nigel Kennedy Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and viola, violist. His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and has since expanded into jazz music, jazz, klezmer, and other music genres. Early life and ...

, ''Blue Note Sessions'' (2006) * Gerald Cleaver, ''Detroit'' (2007) * Ozan Musluoglu, ''40th Day'' (2011) * Jaimeo Brown, ''Transcendence'' (2013) * DJ Clockwork, * Bootsy Collins, * Kris Davis, ''Diatom Ribbons'' (2019) * Erick Wyatt, ''The Golden Rule: For Sonny'' (2019) * Gregg August, ''Dialogues On Race'' (2020) * Quincy Davis, ''Q Vision'' (2020)

References

https://www.jdallen.net/
JD Allen Trio at NewportJazz Festival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, J. D., Iii Jazz tenor saxophonists American jazz tenor saxophonists American male saxophonists 1972 births Living people 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Sunnyside Records artists Criss Cross Jazz artists Red Records artists HighNote Records artists