Perfection (album)

Perfection is an album by the Murray, Allen & Carrington Power Trio, featuring saxophonist David Murray, pianist Geri Allen, and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. It was recorded at Avatar Studios in New York City in June 2015, and was released by Motéma Music in 2016. Guest musicians Wallace Roney (trumpet), Craig Harris (trombone), and Charnett Moffett (bass) appear on one track.

The album was recorded shortly after the death of Ornette Coleman, whose previously unrecorded composition "Perfection" forms the centerpiece of the disc. According to Murray, he received the lead sheet for the piece from trumpeter Bobby Bradford, who had copied it out. Referring to Coleman, the musicians wrote: "There are certain extraordinary musicians upon whose shoulders we stand, both because their work of the highest musical standard and because of their ability to teach and inspire is exceptional, encouraging all of us to seek our own excellence and be the best we can be in order to put our feet in the groundwork which they laid."

The remaining tracks are originals by members of the group, with the exception of "Barbara Allen", a traditional ballad that Geri Allen loved upon first hearing it played by bassist Charlie Haden, before she knew its title was her mother's name. Carrington's "Samsara (For Wayne)" is dedicated to Wayne Shorter, while the title of Allen's "For Fr. Peter O'Brien" refers to the Catholic priest who was Mary Lou Williams' manager.

Regarding the unusual trio format of saxophone, piano, and drums, the musicians wrote that it "challenges each of us to engage ourselves differently than we have done in other groups or musical formats."

Perfection was Geri Allen's final release before her death in 2017.