Flying Toward the Sound

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Guardian	[3]
PopMatters	[4]

AllMusic awarded the album 4+1⁄2 stars, stating, "Flying Toward the Sound is a major work for solo piano: courageous, vulnerable, poetically articulated, and technically awe-inspiring in form and execution".[2] The Guardian review by John Fordham awarded the album 3 stars, noting, "It's a specialised homage to pianists and pianos, but this is the work of a formidable virtuoso".[3] PopMatters reviewer Will Layman said, "I’d been thinking that Geri Allen had somehow gone flat in recent years, but I was wrong. She is just more catholic in the way she packages her intelligent, brave playing"[4] JazzTimes stated, "the ghost of each pianist’s influence inhabits the "Refractions" suite... Nonetheless, every note of music is unmistakably Allen: clear, carefully plotted (even in the tangles of notes that shape the title track), and part of a larger soundscape that's as surreal as it is melodic".[5] All About Jazz enthused, "Jazz has been quoted as being "music that walks a tightrope without a net." Allen's Flying Toward the Sound effectively fits that description—daring, vulnerable, and breathtaking".[6]

All compositions by Geri Allen

1. "Refraction I: Flying Toward the Sound" - 6:02
2. "Refraction II: Red Velvet in Winter" - 5:56
3. "Refraction III: Dancing Mystic Poets at Midnight" - 4:20
4. "Refraction IV: God's Ancient Sky" - 16:03
5. "Refraction V: Dancing Mystic Poets at Twylight" - 3:22
6. "Refraction VI: Faith Carriers of Life" - 6:58
7. "Refraction VII: Dancing Mystic Poets at Dawn" - 5:43
8. "Refraction VIII: Flying Toward the Sound (Reprise)" - 6:53
9. "Your Pure Self (Mother to Son)" - 5:07
10. Video 1: "Flying Toward the Sound" - 4:08
11. Video 2: "Red Velvet in Winter" - 4:03
12. Video 3: "Faith Carriers of Life" - 4:40

• Geri Allen - piano