In addition to his work as a performer, he co-founded the non-profit Jazz Composers Collective and served as its Artistic Director for twelve years.

He began guitar lessons at the age of 9 at the Neighborhood Music School, in New Haven, Connecticut and privately with guitarist George Raccio.

In his senior year he studied briefly with bassist Steve Swallow and took classes in 20th-century music and early childhood development at Yale University.

[5] The albums featured many previously unrecorded Nichols compositions unearthed by members of the group at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

This was another busy period of recording for Allison, who released six albums as a leader for Palmetto between 2000 and 2009, including Peace Pipe (2002),[6] which explored the fusion of jazz and West African music and featured Malian kora player Mamadou Diabaté; Cowboy Justice (Palmetto, 2006),[7] which marked the beginning of his use of electric guitar as a dominant voice in his compositions and band sound; and Little Things Run The World, which NPR's Tom Vitale called "a turn to simplicity for a progressive jazz musician.

"[8] As a member of the Collective, Allison received numerous commissioning and performing grants from organizations including The Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, American Composers Forum, Meet The Composer, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Chamber Music America, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and The National Endowment for the Arts.

He performed on more than a dozen additional recordings as a co-leader or sideman, including albums by Curtis Stigers, Larry Goldings and Steven Bernstein.

As part of this program, Allison taught musical fundamentals to children in the public school system in Harlem, New York City, using student-created poetry, spoken word and song.

It contains reworkings of compositions by Donny Hathaway, PJ Harvey, Samuel Barber, Thelonious Monk, and Neil Young, among others.

[15] In 2012, as a representative of the Recording Academy (NARAS), Allison testified before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on issues relating to performing rights.