DownBeat award winning jazz vocalist/guitarist/composer ALLAN HARRIS has enthralled audiences across the globe with his exciting rendition of music from his recordings the Genius of Eddie Jefferson and Long Live the King, a tribute to Nat ‘King’ Cole recorded live at the Kennedy Center. 2018 was the centennial of Eddie Jefferson’s birth and 2019 is the centennial of Nat Cole’s birth…by putting these two artists together in one performance, Harris demonstrates how these two very different vocalists, born in the same era, bridged the gulf between swinging, hep cat vocalese and the nostalgic crooning of the American Standard Songbook.
Ever since he burst on the jazz scene in the latter part of the twentieth century, The Brooklyn-born, Harlem-based vocalist/guitarist/bandleader/composer Allan Harris has reigned supreme as the most accomplished and exceptional singer of his generation. Aptly described by the Miami Herald as an artist blessed with, “the warmth of Tony Bennett, the bite and rhythmic sense of Sinatra, and the sly elegance of Nat ‘King' Cole,” the ample and aural evidence of Harris’ moving and magisterial artistry can be heard on his ten recordings as a leader; his far-flung and critically-acclaimed concerts around the world, from Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, and Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, to the 2012 London Olympics, and a number of prestigious bookings in Europe, The Middle East and Asia, and his numerous awards, which include the New York Nightlife Award for “Outstanding Jazz Vocalist” – which he won three times – the Backstage Bistro Award for “Ongoing Achievement in Jazz,” the Harlem Speaks “Jazz Museum of Harlem Award” and the DownBeat Critics Award as “Rising Star Vocalist.”
http://www.allanharris.com
