She has the ability to move from tender as feathers to hard as nails as the mood requires. Her compositions can be disarmingly simple, but without sounding routine or familiar.

Geri Allen, the Detroit-born pianist, will be playing some of the finest repertoire pieces on the opening night of the Malta Jazz Festival. Set at the magnificent Grand Harbour, Valletta, the 14th Jazz Festival will be held between 16 and 18 July.

Presented by The Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, and sponsored by Vodafone Malta Limited and Cisk Export Premium Lager, this edition will again satisfy all musical tastes throughout the three-day summer celebration.

Heralded as “one of the most original and in-demand musicians of her generation” by Jazz Times magazine, and one of “the most versatile jazz musicians to emerge in the past decade,” by Atlantic Monthly, pianist Geri Allen truly stands out among her generation.

When Geri Allen won the Danish Jazzpar prize in 1996, it was an international recognition of her exceptional skills as a pianist and composer. Although she had grown up in Detroit during the Motown era, she learned much from the city’s jazz community, especially veteran trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, and this experience put her on track for a distinguished academic career at Washington’s Howard University. In 1979 she met her future husband, trumpeter Wallace Roney, who has appeared on many of her albums.

In New York in the early 1980s she worked with experimental saxophonist Oliver Lake, and joined the M-Base collective alongside saxophonist Steve Coleman.

Throughout the 1980s she worked in many bands at the highest level, recording under her own name for Soul Note, and then joining the Blue Note label. She toured with bass player Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian, later working as accompanist for the singer Betty Carter (whose 1993 album Feel The Fire featuring Geri was based on a BBC Radio 3 recorded concert from London).

In the 1990s she worked in the quartet of saxophonist Ornette Coleman, and he returned the favour by guesting on one of her albums. In 1994, Allen recorded with hip-hop/funk bass player, Me’shell NdgeOcello, and the following year was crowned with a Lady of Soul award for Jazz Album of the Year at the first Soul Train Awards.

Geri Allen graced the big screen, playing the role of pianist Mary Lou Williams in the Robert Altman film, Kansas City in 1996. A former member of the Black Rock Coalition, she was the first woman to receive Denmark’s prestigious Jazzpar Prize.

In addition to teaching as an assistant professor of Music at Howard and garnering such honours as the university’s Distinguished Alumni Award, the SESAE Special Achievement Award, the Eubie Blake Award from Cuturla Crossroads, and recognition as the top Talent Deserving Wider Recognition in Down Beat magazine’s 1993 and 1994 Critics’ Polls, Allen has amassed a stunning resume of musical collaborations.

Her recent work shows her incredible stylistic range, from the free jazz of Coleman to her own more tightly structured compositions, many of which also have a distinctly feminine cast. As a pianist she is outstanding, with a positive, vibrant touch, and great delicacy of phrasing.

The Malta Jazz Festival offers year after year a spectacular line up of stars. The programme features an interesting exchange between European, African and Latin American jazz musicians.

“Once again this year the festival will spotlight female talent such as Geri Allen, an exceptionally versatile pianist who moves effortlessly from bop to free,” said the festival’s artistic director Charles Gatt.

“Vodafone is pleased to be associated with the Malta Jazz Festival and to be able to provide music lovers the many forms of jazz expression,” said Deborah Grech, Vodafone public relations and events senior executive.

“The opening concert of the 14th Festival will be a wonderful opportunity to listen to a star who has had the great fortune of working with Ron Carter and Tony Williams,” said Pierre Stafrace, Farsons marketing manager. “We are proud to extend our sponsorship, through Cisk Export, to such a premium festival!”

Tickets are available from the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, phone 2124-5168; St James Cavalier (10am to 9.30pm, Monday to Sunday).

Prices are Lm7 for one performance or a weekend ticket for Lm15.

Visit www.maltajazzfest.com for more information.