Jackie’s self-produced CD, "Never Let Me Go" brought outstanding reviews. Her holiday album with jazz veteran Judy Roberts, paired two of the city's most popular female performers and inspired a series of standing-room concerts.
Jackie's work as a jazz educator has made her one of Chicago's most influential and respected vocal instructors.
Jackie Allen is a Midwestern native who grew up surrounded by music. Her father, Gene Allen, plays Dixieland jazz tuba, and she and her four siblings all played brass instruments. Her choice was the French horn. At the University of Wisconsin at Madison, she studied music with an eclectic mix of teachers including renowned jazz bassist Richard Davis and pianist/theoretician Joan Wildman; as well as studying voice with Lois Fisher and John Gilmore.
Jackie formed her first jazz quartet in the mid-1980s. It was while performing five nights a week as a duo with Mel Rhyne (the original keyboardist for jazz legend Wes Montgomery) that she began to develop her distinctive, sophisticated style . In Chicago, she performs regularly in clubs such as Lush Life, Andy’s, Green Mill, Pops for Champagne, and Toulouse.
"Never Let Me Go" (Lake Shore Jazz) received glowing reviews in Down Beat, Jazz Times, and the Chicago Tribune, making the national top-twenty and remaining on the charts for thirteen weeks. "Santa Baby," her holiday album, co-produced with pianist Judy Roberts, was named "the most endearing of the holiday albums" by the Chicago Tribune.
Jackie Allen's second solo album entitled "Which?," released on the Naxos Jazz label, was produced by Ralph Jungheim, producer of Grammy Award winners for Joe Williams and Ruth Brown. Jackie is featured on the acclaimed recording "Women Who Swing Chicago" (Big Chicago Records).
Jackie Allen has performed in Europe at the North Sea Jazz Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her performance with bassist Hans Sturm at the International Bass Festival in Edinburgh was highly acclaimed. Jackie has also been featured on the main stage of the Chicago Jazz Festival and the Ravinia Festival.
Jackie has performed and recorded with jazz artists such as Patricia Barber, Bill Cunliffe, Richard Davis, Von Freeman, Eddie Higgins, Red Holloway, Roy McCurdy, and Ira Sullivan.
She has written songs recorded by major artists including Nnenna Freelon.
Jackie Allen is a popular and inspiring educator who has been the jazz vocal instructor at the Old Town School of Folk Music for many years. She has also been featured with a number of university jazz ensembles as a guest performer and clinician.
Jackie produced concerts for the Disney Institute in Florida, including a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. She is a Governor of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ Chicago Chapter.
Neil Tesser, author of the Playboy Guide to Jazz, comments on her debut recording "With this recording, Jackie does more than debut. She arrives. And as the title suggests, she’s worth hanging on to."
Star Eyes
Jackie Allen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That to me is what your eyes are,
Soft as stars in April skies are,
Tell me some day you'll fulfill
Their promise of a thrill.
Star eyes,
Flashing eyes in which my hopes rise,
Let me prove that it adores
That loveliness of yours.
All my life I've felt
Content to stargaze at the skies.
Now I only want to to melt
The stardust in your eyes.
Star eyes,
When if ever, will my lips know
If it's me for whom those eyes glow?
Makes no diff'rence where you are,
Your eyes still hold my wishing star,
Oh, star eyes, how lovely you are.
The lyrics to Jackie Allen's song Star Eyes convey the singer's feelings of admiration and yearning towards someone with stunning eyes that remind her of beautiful stars in the sky. She expresses the hope that the person with these amazing eyes will fulfill the promises of excitement that they seem to offer. The lyrics suggest that the singer has stargazed throughout her life, finding comfort and solace in the beauty of the constellations. However, she now recognizes that the stardust in the eyes of her love interest is more captivating and desirable than anything she has seen in the evening sky.
The singer's passion is further evident as she pleads with her love interest to let her show them where her heart lies and prove to them that she adores their loveliness. The lyrics also hint at a sense of uncertainty and hesitance from the singer, as she wonders whether her love interest reciprocates her affection. She suggests that their stunning eyes leave her in awe and make it difficult for her to decipher if her love interest's focus is on her.
In summary, the lyrics to Jackie Allen's song Star Eyes encapsulate both the beauty and bewilderment that comes with being captivated by someone's eyes. They also evoke the sense of longing and uncertainty that can come with a newfound love.
Line by Line Meaning
Star eyes,
I see your eyes as shining stars
That to me is what your eyes are,
Your eyes are the most beautiful thing in the world to me
Soft as stars in April skies are,
Your eyes are gentle and comforting like stars in the sky
Tell me some day you'll fulfill
Their promise of a thrill.
I hope that someday you will make my dreams of being with you come true
Flashing eyes in which my hopes rise,
Your eyes fill me with hope and optimism
Let me show you where my heart lies.
I want to express my love for you
Let me prove that it adores
That loveliness of yours.
I want to show you that I love everything about you
All my life I've felt
Content to stargaze at the skies.
I used to be satisfied with admiring the beauty of the stars in the sky
Now I only want to to melt
The stardust in your eyes.
Now I want to be with you and experience the love that is reflected in your eyes
When if ever, will my lips know
If it's me for whom those eyes glow?
I wonder if you feel the same way about me that I feel about you
Makes no diff'rence where you are,
Your eyes still hold my wishing star,
No matter where you are, I still feel the same way about you
Oh, star eyes, how lovely you are.
You are the most beautiful and desirable person I have ever met
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: Gene De Paul, Don Raye
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind