Luther Allison
Luther S. Allison, a multi-instrumentalist specializing in piano and drums, hails from Charlotte, North Carolina.
In 2015, while earning his Bachelor’s in Studio Music and Jazz from the University of Tennessee, trombonist Michael Dease recruited Allison to play drums on his album “Father Figure” on Posi-Tone Records, marking the then 19-year old’s professional recording debut. Soon after, Allison recorded as a sideman on several more albums for Posi-Tone, including piano on Dease’s “Reaching Out” and “Never More Here,” Diego Rivera’s “Connections,” and drums on Dease’s “Give It All You Got,” and Markus Howell’s “Get Right.” In 2019, he completed his Master’s in Jazz Studies from Michigan State University.
Upon graduating, Allison moved to New York City where he quickly became a regular performer at premiere jazz clubs including Dizzy’s, Smalls, The Jazz Standard, Mezzrow, Smoke, and Minton’s. He has performed nationally and internationally alongside renowned artists like Rodney Whitaker, Jazzmeia Horn, The Baylor Project, Samara Joy, Gregory Tardy, and Ulysses Owens Jr. among others. In addition to teaching annually at the Brevard Jazz Institute summer camp in North Carolina, Allison has worked as a jazz clinician in Mexico, China, Japan, Switzerland, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Most recently in 2023, he won a Grammy Award for his piano playing on Samara Joy’s album “Tight.” Allison’s debut leader record, titled “I Owe It All To You” (2024, Posi-Tone), features the pianist along with veteran bassist Boris Kozlov and his friend, drummer extraordinaire Zach Adleman, honoring the influential lineage of pianists affectionately referred to as “The Memphis Mafia.”
Outside of his work as a sideman, Allison leads his own piano trio, sextet, and octet, performing original compositions and arrangements influenced by R&B, country, gospel, and more. He also co-leads a project with dancer John Manzari. Allison credits much of his compositional inspiration and musical development to playing in the black church and growing up with the sounds of Earth Wind & Fire, Anita Baker, Sly and The Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, and others.
Luther S. Allison, a multi-instrumentalist specializing in piano and drums, hails from Charlotte, North Carolina.
In 2015, while earning his Bachelor’s in Studio Music and Jazz from the University of Tennessee, trombonist Michael Dease recruited Allison to play drums on his album “Father Figure” on Posi-Tone Records, marking the then 19-year old’s professional recording debut. Soon after, Allison recorded as a sideman on several more albums for Posi-Tone, including piano on Dease’s “Reaching Out” and “Never More Here,” Diego Rivera’s “Connections,” and drums on Dease’s “Give It All You Got,” and Markus Howell’s “Get Right.” In 2019, he completed his Master’s in Jazz Studies from Michigan State University.
Upon graduating, Allison moved to New York City where he quickly became a regular performer at premiere jazz clubs including Dizzy’s, Smalls, The Jazz Standard, Mezzrow, Smoke, and Minton’s. He has performed nationally and internationally alongside renowned artists like Rodney Whitaker, Jazzmeia Horn, The Baylor Project, Samara Joy, Gregory Tardy, and Ulysses Owens Jr. among others. In addition to teaching annually at the Brevard Jazz Institute summer camp in North Carolina, Allison has worked as a jazz clinician in Mexico, China, Japan, Switzerland, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Most recently in 2023, he won a Grammy Award for his piano playing on Samara Joy’s album “Tight.” Allison’s debut leader record, titled “I Owe It All To You” (2024, Posi-Tone), features the pianist along with veteran bassist Boris Kozlov and his friend, drummer extraordinaire Zach Adleman, honoring the influential lineage of pianists affectionately referred to as “The Memphis Mafia.”
Outside of his work as a sideman, Allison leads his own piano trio, sextet, and octet, performing original compositions and arrangements influenced by R&B, country, gospel, and more. He also co-leads a project with dancer John Manzari. Allison credits much of his compositional inspiration and musical development to playing in the black church and growing up with the sounds of Earth Wind & Fire, Anita Baker, Sly and The Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, and others.