Home Grown

Paul Cornish has roots in Houston, and a rooting interest in Geri Allen.

Pianist Paul Cornish, pictured at Sam First in Los Angeles. His Blue Note debut, You’re Exaggerating, drops on Aug. 22. (Shayan Asgharnia / Texas Monthly)

Paul Cornish can vividly recall the moment he discovered Geri Allen.

It was the summer of 2015, precisely a decade ago. He’d just finished his freshman year in the Jazz Studies program at the USC Thornt…