Allan Harris - LYDIALIEBMAN.COM

The Poetry of Jazz: Live at Blue LLama
Street Date: July 11, 2025
Label: Blue LLama Records

With 17 albums and a career that spans continents and generations, Allan Harris is still redefining jazz for new audiences. This Brooklyn-born and Harlem-based vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter is proud to release his 17th album, The Poetry of Jazz: Live at Blue LLama. The project was recorded live at the acclaimed Ann Arbor venue, Blue LLama Jazz Club, which has been recognized by DownBeat as one of its “Great Jazz Venues” since 2023. This live set captures Harris at his finest, leading a world-class ensemble featuring pianist John Di Martino, bassist Jay White, drummer Sylvia Cuenca, and violinist Alan Grubner.

This is Harris’s second album with Blue LLama Records, and it showcases his unique ability to blur the lines between singing, scatting, and spoken word. The repertoire interweaves poetry by William Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas, Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Mary Oliver with Harris’s original compositions and a selection of beloved jazz standards.

The album opens with Groovy People, a joyful tribute to Lou Rawls and a lighthearted way to welcome listeners into the album. Harris wanted to set the tone with something warm and inviting before diving into deeper lyrical terrain. Harris then masterfully sets Langston Hughes’ classic 1925 poem “The Weary Blues,” a staple of the Harlem Renaissance, to original music, channeling the spirit of that lone piano player on Lenox Avenue.

Throughout the album, Harris creates vivid emotional pairings that deepen the impact of each piece. Sonnet 18 “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” by Shakespeare flows into Midnight Sun, linking timeless love with eternal beauty. His original composition Autumn, a gentle ballad reflecting on change and surrender, is followed by Wild Geese by Mary Oliver. Both works are ultimately about finding your place in the world, whether in the turning of the leaves or the flight of the geese: “Let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” Charade, the wistful tune by Mancini and Mercer, explores the fragile boundary between performance and reality, a theme deepened by Sonnet 29, “When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes.” And Shallow Man is paired with “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas, revealing a shared urgency to resist, whether it’s the pull of complacency or the finality of death.

Other tracks include Desafinado by Antônio Carlos Jobim alongside Sonnet 116: “Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments.” Harris connects his spare, haunting rendition of With You I’m Born Again to Lord Byron’s rapturous ode “She Walks in Beauty.”

Popularized by Nina Simone, the traditional African-American folk song Sea Line Woman is threaded with Maya Angelou’s defiant, unapologetic “Still I Rise”: “You may write me down in history … But still, like dust, I’ll rise.” Another original, Secret Moments, fits beautifully with Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee”, celebrating the boundlessness of devotion.

The album concludes with a final Harris original, Time Just Slips Away, perfectly of a piece with Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by / And that has made all the difference.” Just as Frost’s traveler found transformation on a path less traveled, Harris brings listeners along a journey of musical discovery that bridges poetry, jazz, and soul.

The Poetry of Jazz: Live at the Blue LLama is a testament to Harris’s ongoing artistic growth and his gift for storytelling through song. With this release, he continues to push the boundaries of jazz, inviting audiences to experience familiar words in a whole new light.

Live at the Blue LLama
Street Date: July 28, 2023
Label: Love Productions x Live at Blue LLama Records

Renowned vocalist and guitarist Allan Harris is proud to announce the release of his new album, Live at Blue LLama. Recorded live at the state-of-the-art jazz club in January of this year, Harris’ first live album in over thirteen years showcases his current working band at their artistic peak and displays their deep musical bond and connection, all in front of an attentive live audience. Joining the soulful crooner is pianist and keyboardist Arcoiris Sandoval, bassist Marty Kenney, drummer Norman Edwards, and saxophonist-flutist Irwin Hall.

Called the “Jazz Vocal King of New York”, Allan Harris has stunned audiences for nearly four decades. Known for his “formidable baritone with … husky edges and deep resonant low notes" (Stephen Holden, the New York Times), Harris has released fourteen albums, including 2021’s love letter to Harlem Kate’s Soulfood, which propelled him to be named one of 8 Artists

Honoring Black Geniuses by Grammy.com. During the pandemic, Harris and his tight-knit band gained international recognition for their “Harlem After Dark” live-stream concerts, which brought audiences into the Harris’ lively living room every Tuesday night. Highlighted by Forbes Magazine, this ritual kept the band in top musical shape, artistically challenged, and encouraged a much-needed sense of camaraderie among the musicians and their virtual audience. “The world was turned upside down but we knew each week we’d come together and make some music to share with our friends around the world,” Harris reflected. When COVID restrictions subsided and touring resumed, Harris and band went on the road, eager to bring their musical magic to a real-life audience.

Set to play for two nights at the Blue LLama in January 2023, Harris decided it was time to capture the sound and vibe of this particularly solid band, and felt that the Ann Arbor, Michigan venue would be the perfect place to do it. A top level jazz club with particularly great acoustics and a savvy engineer, Blue LLama is one of Harris’ favorite places to play. Allan Harris Live at the Blue LLama captures the vocal maestro in top form, and showcases the engaging warmth and crackling magic that only live music can bring.

This curated collection of ten selections was combed from Harris’ diverse and genre-spanning repertoire, sourced from over forty years of musical artistry. The set kicks off with “Sunny”, the Bobby Hebb-classic that holds a special place in Harris’ heart. “Watching Bobby Hebb and Ron Carter perform this as a young child moved me in a profound way,” Harris shares. “I was so moved by their storytelling… I wanted to do that!” Sandoval shines on the first of many stand-out solos here, and audibly brings the audience to their feet. Harris slows the tempo down on the Duke Person/Oscar Brown Jr-penned “Jeannine”, before launching into the feel-good “New Day”, a highlight from his latest studio album, Kate’s Soulfood.

Harris then launches into a touching rendition of the ballad “The Very Thought of You”. Its inclusion here is a poignant call-back to his first live album, Long Live the King, a Nat King Cole-themed set recorded live at the Kennedy Center and released in 2010. Harris then launches into the Miles Davis stalwart “So What” featuring Eddie Jefferson’s famous vocalese that recounts the infamous moment in the 1950’s when Miles and Coltrane were not happy with their performance and walked off stage to practice before returning to the gig. This one features another burning solo by Sandoval. Harris moves on to a pair of originals including the blues-drenched “Black Coffee Blues” and a new composition entitled “Shimmering Deep Blue Sea”, which takes inspiration from old black and white noir films.

Harris’ take on Chick Corea and Al Jarreu’s “Spain” comes up next. A song imbued with history, Harris has been performing “Spain” since the 1970’s, and it has long been a staple during his live shows. He approaches the end of the set with another upbeat original on which Irwin Hall delivers a particularly lyrical solo, “There She Goes”, which first appeared on his 2001 release Open Up Your Mind, and finally, closes things up on this sonic journey that is Eden Ahbez’s “Nature Boy” with a new arrangement by Sandoval.

Produced with minimal editing, Allan Harris - Live at Blue LLama is an honest representation of this vocal giant. “I am really proud to present to the world this live recording. It is a sonic window into the world that I inhabit when stepping onto the performance stage, and I hope it moves you,” Harris shares.

Kate’s Soulfood
Street Date: February 12, 2021
Label: Love Productions

Kates Soulfood is a spirited, soul-drenched ten track recording that pays homage to Allan Harris’ home of Harlem, NYC as only he can.

Showcasing his brisk baritone and deft songwriting ability, Harris’ fourteenth release as a leader paints a vivid portrait of his vibrant neighborhood that draws heavily from a deep well of childhood memories. “As a child, the rhythmic rocking of the subway was music to my ears. Every Sunday I took a magical ride along those tracks from Brooklyn to Harlem, which became my island of refuge,” he says. Like his ancestors who emigrated there during the Harlem Renaissance, Harris saw Harlem as a place of opportunity, belonging, and most importantly, love. “The people that enveloped me with their love and teaching placed an armor of music, literature and history around my underdeveloped mind.” Kate’s Soulfood is the outcome of their heartfelt efforts.

Among those that had an impact on the young Harris was his Aunt Kate, and her popular luncheonette Kate’s Home Cooking. Located on the corner of Frederick Douglass Boulevard and 126th street, right behind the Apollo Theater, the diner was often frequented by musicians (and notably appears on the cover of Jimmy Smith’s Home Cookin’). Harris would spend his Sunday afternoons at his aunt’s restaurant, soaking in the sounds and sights, before catching a show at the Apollo. “I experienced many pivotal moments at my aunts’ restaurant. I witnessed parts of the civil rights movement, rubbed shoulders with exceptional people, and it was there that I really found my voice.” In composing the music featured on Kate’s Soulfood, Harris drew from these impactful experiences, and in doing so, has produced a wide-ranging sonic tapestry of his beloved neighborhood.

To bring his vision to life, Harris enlisted GRAMMY winning producer Kamau Kenyatta, known particularly for his work with Gregory Porter. Harris’ A-list backing band includes his working rhythm section made up of Arcoiris Sandoval on piano, Nimrod Speaks on bass and Shirazette Tinnin on drums. Also featured is Grégoire Maret on harmonica, David Castañeda on percussion, Curtis Taylor on trumpet, Alex Budman on alto saxophone, Keith Fiddmont on tenor saxophone and Ondre J Pivec on organ. Harris plays guitar throughout the album, with the exception of on “Color Of A Woman is Blu”, which features Tonga Ross-M’au in his place.

The contagious, vivacious energy of Harlem is personified on the opening track and album highlight “I Grew Up”, on which striking horn arrangements by Etienne Charles shine brightly. Against a backdrop of children playing and singing, Harris paints a vivid picture of an afternoon in Harlem, and proudly declares “Harlem is the place, Harlem is the place where I live,” perfectly setting the stage for the proceedings.

Harris shifts gears on “One More Notch (Put Down Your Gun)”, on which he steps into the role of a former gang-member who pleads with his junior to get off the street, and follows it up with “Wash Away My Sins”, a mid-tempoed declaration of appreciation for the strong women who love and support Black men in today’s broken society. Harris shines on neo-soul infused tracks “Open Up” and “Shallow Man” before barring his romantic soul on “The Color of a Woman is Blu”. The back-half of Kate’s Soulfood, “99 Miles”, “Autumn Has Found You”, and “New Day”, were written for Harris’ friends and family that showered him with love throughout his life.

Closing out Kate’s Soulfood is “Run Through America”, which was released as a single in August. Written in response to the unjust police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, “Run Through America” is a modern-day protest song that ends the album with a call to action: to take to the streets and call out their name. The emotional music video was premiered by JazzTimes. It is a fitting end to an album about Harlem, a place where the civil rights movement boomed in the 1960’s - something Harris saw up close from his counter seat at Kate’s Home Cooking.

Kate’s Soulfood is a tour-de-force for Allan Harris, who has been called the “Jazz Vocal King of New York”. Described by the Miami Herald as possessing a voice with “the warmth of Tony Bennett, the bite and rhythmic sense of Sinatra, and the sly elegance of Nat ‘King' Cole,” Harris has garnered wide acclaim from critics and legions of fans from all over the world. Recently, Harris made national headlines with his riveting work Cross That River, which tells the unsung story of America’s black cowboys and sheds light on their oft-overlooked contribution in taming the American West. Cross That River was featured in the New York Times, on NPR’s Weekend Edition, and on CBS and NBC.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Harris has remained in the public eye due to his weekly live stream concert series “Harlem After Dark”. These virtual performances, which stream on Youtube and Facebook Live and garnered attention from Forbes, regularly attract thousands of fans and have become a staple in many music lovers’ homes every Tuesday evening. Harris has often featured tunes from Kate’s Soulfood during these performances, and the music has been met with great enthusiasm.