Luther Allison composed “Until I See You Again” in 2019 just weeks after he started dating—and then quickly said goodbye—to his now-wife, Yvonne.
The couple met at Epicenter of Worship, a Christian church in Lansing’s Everett neighborhood, and took a chance at a relationship even as Allison was preparing a move to New York City following his graduation from the jazz studies graduate program at Michigan State University.
The piano-rich ballad to his wife eschews themes of longing and despair so typified in long-distance love, manifesting instead as an up-tempo celebration of their future. The track features on Allison’s debut album “I Owe It All To You,” which released last summer just before he was chosen to lead a whirlwind 50-city tour across the country.
Starting in January 2025, the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s New Orleans Songbook tour kicked off a two-and-a-half-month road trip for Allison and another departure from his wife soon after the couple wed in September 2024. Reminiscent of the day they said goodbye in East Lansing in 2019, Allison kept his focus not on farewell, but on when he would see her again.
That day came in late March as Allison returned to his alma mater for one of the tour’s final dates—a homecoming in more ways than one.
“We haven’t had many breaks,” Allison said as he drove between East Lansing and his home in Detroit where he saw his wife for the first time in months (the couple also share a home in New York). “There have been few completely off days. It’s a lot, but you learn about your boundaries and your limits on a tour like this.”
The tour was the longest of Allison’s young and wildly successful career. In addition to his debut LP, Allison won a Grammy in 2023 for his work with jazz vocalist Samara Joy, will appear in and play music for the upcoming movie “The Bride,” and frequently collaborates with other acclaimed jazz artists, including Ulysses Owens Jr., Ekep Nkwelle, Joe Farnsworth and Jazzmeia Horn, and fellow Spartans Endea Owens (’15) and Liany Mateo (’00).
Adding to that list, Allison’s time at MSU put him under the tutelage of luminaries like Rodney Whitaker, Randy Napoleon and Michael Dease. Allison takes pride in his MSU roots. The Spartan brand is highly respected in the jazz community, he said.
“I had so many incredible experiences at MSU both on and off the bandstand, in the classroom and out of the classroom,” he added. “The faculty is extremely accessible. They entrusted me with their music and their artistic vision by having me join their bands on a consistent basis. That definitely helped my transition to New York.”
Allison earned his bachelor’s at the University of Tennessee and was lured to East Lansing by Dease, who encouraged him to apply for a graduate assistantship in the College of Music. His passion and skill impressed professors, but Allison’s ascent was not a forgone conclusion.
For a time, Allison planned a career in the ministry, combining his faith and music with the vibrancy of a large city. He found a spiritual home in Chicago, making the 3 ½ hour drive to the city whenever possible.
That changed when he met Ulysses Owens Jr. Allison had long studied Owens’ music and was honored to play alongside him at the Brevard Jazz Institute in summer 2018. An impressed Owens asked to stay in contact and then offered life-changing advice.
“You should be in New York,” Owens told him. “I’m not going to force you to do anything, but you need to play in that scene.”
In his formative years as a sideman, Allison pulled lessons from bandleaders to shape his own artistic vision. Guided by his faith, his family and his sense of community—and the successes and difficulties along his journey—Allison found his own voice.
His album is a mix of personal compositions and homages to Allison’s greatest influences with his own twists. The Rodney Whitaker-inspired piece, “The Things We Used To Say,” is directly informed by Allison’s time at MSU.
“Rodney Whitaker is the heart and soul of Michigan State’s jazz program,” Allison said. “He is very unapologetic about his will to swing. Swing music and the swing groove is something that is shied away from in my generation, but I wanted to have a song that was swinging and also very interesting harmonically and rhythmically with somewhat of a singable melody.”
Following the end of his tour, Allison looked forward to the time to rest and recuperate with his wife by his side. But that doesn’t mean he’s slowing down any time soon. “I’m just trying to take everything in along the way and allow these experiences and difficulties to sharpen me as a man of faith and also a musician.”
