Live At Blue Llama Jazz Club
Blue Llama, 2023
8/10
Listen to Live At Blue Llama Jazz Club
The globally adored vocalist and guitarist Allan Harris returns with his first live album in 13 years, where Arcoiris Sandoval, Marty Kenney, Norman Edwards and Irwin Hall are in attendance for the lively jazz set.
“Sunny” opens the listen with Sandoval’s cozy keys and Edwards’ animated drumming complementing Harris’ soulful pipes, and “Jeannine” follows with a dreamy delivery of agile guitar and subdued bass from Kenney for the intimate landscape.
The middle track belongs to the upbeat and playful “So What?”, as the bouncy keys and frisky drums cultivate plenty of melody, while “Black Coffee Blues” uses Hall’s bright sax and the bluesy guitar to its advantage.
“There She Goes” and “Nature Boy” exit the listen, where the former is a gentle yet dynamic album highlight that’s strategically firm, too, and the latter has twinkling keys that builds into a wild free jazz explosion of controlled chaos.
Harris has been impressing audiences with his radiant voice for almost 4 decades now, and the ‘Jazz Vocal King of New York’ is as relevant and powerful as ever across these timeless tracks.
Travels well with: The Rodriguez Brothers- Reunited Live At Dizzy’s Club; Doug Beavers- Luna