The Poetry Of Jazz
Live At Blue Llama, 2025
8/10
The Brooklyn vocalist, guitarist and storyteller Allan Harris is joined by John Di Martino, Jay White, Syliva Cuenca and Alan Grubner for this 2nd live recording from the Blue Llama Jazz Club in Ann Arbor.
“Groovy People” starts the listen with Harris’ soulful pipes and Di Martino’s warm keys that suit Cuenca’s thumping drums, and “Weary Blues” brings spoken word into Harris’ dense guitar for a more rock focused moment.
Halfway through, “Charade” benefits from White’s playful bass lines amid Grubner’s meticulous violin, while “Desainado” offers a busy and dynamic set highlight that uses frisky scatting and plenty of melodic jazz gestures.
“Secret Moments” and “Time Just Slips Away” exit the evening. The former enlists poetry alongside the gentle piano and, later on, romantic singing, and the latter pairs the eloquent vocals with cautious and sophisticated instrumentation.
A very literate outing, the works of Shakespeare, Thomas, Angelou, Frost and Hughes are sprinkled in between the originals and standards that create a timeless, poetic and jazz fueled set.
Travels well with: Charles Chen- Building Characters; Triology- The Slow Road