Allan Harris

As a young jazz singer coming up in South Florida, Allan Harris impressed audiences, critics and colleagues alike with his smoky voice and natural charisma. Among his admirers was none other than Tony Bennett, who requested him as his opening act for a concert on Williams Island. A friend of Harris’ managed the venue and called the awestruck singer with the offer. “He said, ‘When can you get here?’” Harris recalls, speaking by phone from his current home in Harlem. “And I think five minutes later, I was knockin’ on his door.”  

Many doors have since swung wide for Harris, who was raised in Brooklyn but spent formative years of his career in the 1980s and ’90s in South Florida. Being mentored and championed by Bennett, who dubbed Harris his “favorite singer,” hasn’t held him back, and he’s enjoyed international acclaim. Returning the favor, Harris pays tribute to the perpetually hip octogenarian on his recent release Convergence, a duo album with pianist Takana Miyamoto that revisits the classic duo albums Bennett made with Bill Evans.

 But certainly Harris recognizes the importance of the South Florida jazz scene in his development. The singer returns to Miami this month to help celebrate the Sunshine Jazz Organization’s 25th anniversary and to perform with cherished colleagues in the Melton Mustafa Orchestra. Chief among them is Mustafa’s older brother, alto saxophonist Jesse Jones Jr., who tours and records with Harris’ band. “Oh, man, Jesse and I played together for years,” Harris says. “I used to just go and jump on stage with him and Dr. Lonnie Smith all the time at O’Hara’s [in Fort Lauderdale]. Pick up the guitar, sing a little bit. Every once in a while, George Benson would come in. That would change the dynamic! It was wonderful watching George with Lonnie. It was so old-school, and Jesse would join in with them. Jesse’s my man. I love him.”

Harris has also witnessed the travails Jones has suffered over the past few years, as his wife, Thelma, and then his his brother, Melton, were diagnosed with cancer. A deeply spiritual man, Jones maintains a positive attitude. “Any other human being would be bitter by now,” Harris says. “And to talk to Jesse, he’s one of the few people I know on the planet I’ve never heard say a coarse or hard word against anything. He’s just a wonderful human being.”

Earlier this year, Harris and his band performed in Belle Glades, Miami Beach, Fisher Island and Fort Pierce. During one concert, Jones received a call that Mustafa had been rushed back to the hospital. The brothers, who grew up in Liberty City, remain close, physically and emotionally. After all, when they were kids, Jones bullied his little brother into picking up the trumpet so they could emulate his heroes, Cannonball and Nat Adderley. Mustafa would go on to play with Jaco Pastorius, Bobby Watson and the Count Basie and Duke Ellington orchestras, and he currently heads up the Jazz Department at Florida Memorial University. Obviously, the news that Mustafa was back in the hospital hit Jones hard. “He transferred all that emotion into his playing,” Harris relates. “He’s already an emotional player, but he just hit some things that made you want to cry.” 

In his own work, Harris says he only recently was able to access the emotional resonance that he brings to bear on Convergence. With great depth of feeling, he and Miyamoto interpret gems such as “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” “You Must Believe in Spring” and the Evans signature piece, “Waltz for Debby.” He credits the pianist, an Evans expert, with slowing the tempos so that he couldn’t dodge the emotional content with technical brio or bluesy bravado. “That was a big foible of mine, being in a hurry to get through the verse,” he admits. “It takes a while, especially in jazz, for us male vocalists to really come into our own.. Except for Tony. Tony’s had it since he was 25.” 

 By Bob Weinberg 

Allan Harris performs with the Melton Mustafa Orchestra 7-11pm Sept. 15 at the Joseph Caleb Auditorium in Miami. Jesse Jones Jr., Alice Day, Brenda Alford and Yvonne Brown will also perform. Call 305/636-2350 or visit SunshineJazz.org.

MATT WALSH & THE LOW COUNTS
BRADFORDVILLE BLUES, TALLAHASSEE/SEPT. 7
BEACH SHACK, COCOA BEACH/SEPT. 8
The music of North Carolina native Matt Walsh is as raw as unprocessed lumber. Mixing Hill Country Mississippi menace with deep Delta feeling — and the insistent churn of Chicago blues with the rootsy chug of rockabilly — Walsh crafts a hybrid as heady as a slug of corn liquor. His 2007 recording Hard Luck reveals the guitarist and vocalist’s roots in the slashing, hard-edged country-gone-city blues of Robert Nighthawk and Hound Dog Taylor, as well as tipping a hand to the rhythms of Sun Records. If you detect the influence of Bob Margolin, it’s no accident; the former Muddy Waters sideman is a mentor to and champion of the now-Wichita, Kansas, based Walsh. Walsh’s current band, the Low Counts, provide fittingly gritty settings for the frontman on crunching yowlers such as “I’m Taking My Brand Off You” and “You Know You’re Crazy,” which recall Captain  Beefheart’s intense approach to the blues. A follow up to Hard Luck is in the offing. BW
 

SHEMEKIA COPELAND
BAMBOO ROOM, LAKE WORTH/SEPT. 13
SKIPPER’S SMOKEHOUSE, TAMPA/SEPT. 14
AMELIA ISLAND BLUES FEST, FERNANDINA BEACH/SEPT. 15
Last month, Shemekia Copeland was named Most Outstanding Blues Vocalist by Living Blues Magazine. And that was before her brand-new recording, 33 1/3, was even released. The title of the album, which is due Sept. 25, refers to both Copeland’s love of vinyl records and her current age. Certainly, the daughter of blues great Johnny Clyde Copeland comes across as a mature artist, not depending on vocal histrionics, but able to summon depths of emotion at will. Copeland deftly handles topical tunes, such as “Lemon Pie,” about wealth disparity, and “Ain’t Gonna Be Your Tattoo,” a powerful rebuke of an abusive lover. But best of all are statements of purpose, such as “I Sing the Blues” and “Mississippi Mud.” Guest artists Buddy Guy, JJ Grey and Roosevelt Collier (The Lee Boys) provide plenty of texture. Copeland’s seasoned road band joins her for the tour, on which she’ll surely provide a preview of the new music. BW

ANDREW JR. BOY JONES
BRADFORDVILLE BLUES, TALLAHASSEE/SEPT. 21
While still in his teens, Andrew Jr. Boy Jones enrolled in the Texas Blues master class that was life on the road with guitarist Freddie King. He’d carry those lessons with him throughout a stellar career that’s included stints with Johnnie Taylor, Katie Webster and Charlie Musselwhite. Of course, Jones sopped up all that blues like gravy, which is evident on his own recordings of the past 16 years. The native Texan not only burns guitar strings like sagebrush, but sings with deep feeling and humor, which is the way he writes songs, too. “When we make love, I feel like Superman,” he sings on “People Say I’m Crazy,” from 2009’s Gettin’ Real. “I should’ve known better, when I left the money on the nightstand.” If you want a taste of just how good this
cat is in front of an audience, dig the 2010 release Jr. Boy Live, or the recently released live DVD Hell in My House, which features his excellent band and sweat-raising vocalist Kerrie Lepai. Or better yet, check him out when he returns to Bradfordville Blues this month. BW

ROYAL SOUTHERN BROTHERHOOD
ENGLEWOODS ON DEARBORN, ENGLEWOOD/SEPT. 27
BAMBOO ROOM, LAKE WORTH/SEPT. 28
ED SMITH STADIUM, SARASOTA BLUES FEST/SEPT. 29
Royal Southern Brotherhood quite naturally combine Southern-rock with New Orleans soul. After all, the band features Gregg Allman’s son, Devon Allman, on vocals and guitar; and Neville Brother Cyril Neville,
on vocals and percussion. Blues-rock guitar star Mike Zito, bassist Charlie Wooton and drummer Yonrico Scott round out the lineup and display great versatility on the band’s eponymous 2012 recording. Zito’s and Allman’s guitars laser through the humid settings, which travel from the backwoods to the bayou to Bourbon Street. The  principals penned most of the material here. Allman recalls his pop’s bluesy vocals on his quite personal- sounding “Left My Heart in Memphis,” while Neville takes the lead on his and Zito’s composition
“Moonlight Over the Mississippi,” an album highlight. And, if online videos of the band are any indication, RSB are a stone-cold treat on-stage. BW

CURTIS SALGADO
BOSTONS, DELRAY/SEPT. 25
MCWELL’S, ORLANDO/SEPT. 27
SEMINOLE CASINO, COCONUT CREEK/SEPT. 28
ED SMITH STADIUM, SARASOTA BLUES FEST/SEPT. 29
EARL’S HIDEAWAY, SEBASTIAN/SEPT. 30
Curtis Salgado is the proverbial soul survivor. In 2006, the soul-blues vet underwent a liver transplant. In 2008, he had surgery to remove a tumor on his lung. And, this summer, part of his left lung was removed. But now Salgado is back on the highway, touring behind his excellent new recording Soul Shout. The longtime Oregonian not only fronted Roomful of Blues and Santana and played in the bands of Robert Cray and Steve Miller, but was also John Belushi’s inspiration for The Blues Brothers. Backed by members of The Phantom Blues Band, Salgado is in superb form on Soul Shout, digging in on horn-fueled soul-blues and R&B, some original and some by greats such as Otis Redding, Johnny Guitar Watson and George Clinton. Salgado won Soul/Blues Artist of the Year at the 2012 Blues Music Awards, a repeat of 2010. BW

SILVANO MONASTERIOS TRIO
WYNWOOD KITCHEN AND BAR, MIAMI/SEPT. 6
Pianist Silvano Monasterios’ Venezuelan upbringing and conservatory training set him apart from the pack upon his arrival in the U.S. in 1989 (when he received a “Best Soloist Award” at the Miami Jazz Festival). Monasterios continues to achieve rare air with influences ranging from the lyrical Bill Evans to the outriding Thelonious Monk. His fourth CD, the introspective and evocative Unconditional, is a critically acclaimed gem that’s received domestic and overseas airplay. That album’s rhythm section, bassist Jon Dadurka and drummer Rodolfo Zuñiga, rounds out the pianist’s worldly Miami-based trio. The two excellent accompanists engage Monasterios in everything from pensive dialogues to cat-and-mouse chases through standards and original compositions. The pianist also performs with Sammy Figueroa’s Latin Jazz Explosion, with whom he’ll travel to New York this month, and with his own 4th World Ensemble. Check our listings for upcoming South Florida shows by both bands. BM

VON BARLOW’S JAZZ JOURNEY
EUROPEAN STREET CAFE LISTENING ROOM,
JACKSONVILLE/SEPT. 6
Born, raised and based in Jacksonville, drummer Von Barlow has had the opportunity to accompany jazz and blues icons passing into and out of the SunshineState. That list includes everyone from Mose Allison, Lou Rawls, Etta James and Harry Connick Jr. to Bunky Green, Marcus Roberts, Eddie Harris and Barney Kessel. Listen to Barlow’s interpretive drumming on versions of classics such as Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints” or Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder,” and you hear what the seasoned bandleader has learned from such experiences. Along with pianist Scott Giddens and bassist Ricky Revelo, the veteran drummer takes audiences on a jazz journey befitting his trio’s name. Barlow is a celebrity at the annual Jacksonville Jazz Fest, having served as the event’s house drummer and as part of the rhythm section for its famed International Great American Jazz Piano Competition. He was inducted into the Festival’s Hall of Fame in 2007, and will organize its Hall of Fame Band. BM

CANNONBALL BIRTHDAY CONCERT
BROWARD CENTER, FORT LAUDERDALE/SEPT. 15
Tampa-born saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley died at age 46 in 1975. But he left a rich legacy that includes gracing Miles Davis’ 1959 classic Kind of Blue; co-leading groups with cornet-playing brother Nat Adderley; and scoring a 1966 hit with Joe Zawinul’s “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.” The saxophonist would’ve turned 84 on Sept. 15, so family and friends are throwing a party to honor both his timeless music and his stint as a teacher and band director at Fort Lauderdale’s DillardHigh School. Nephew and pianist Nat Adderley Jr. will be joined by Vincent Herring on alto sax; Nat’s protégé Longineau Parsons on trumpet; Cannon’s final working drummer, Roy McCurdy; and in demand Los Angeles bassist Trevor Ware. They’ll play in the classic hard-bop mode of the ’50s and ‘60s for the Old Dillard Museum’s Cannonball Jazz Series, which honors Adderley’s work at Fort Lauderdale’s first school for African-American students, now the site of the museum. BM

PAULETTE DOZIER
ARTS GARAGE, DELRAY BEACH/SEPT. 15
Paulette Dozier’s skills as both a jazz vocalist and as an actress have been on prominent display in recent months. The North Florida native combined her talents portraying Billie Holiday in the stage show Lady Day, which played during the summer at the Broward Stage Door Theater. Dozier’s performance at Delray’s Arts Garage will celebrate the release of her third CD, In Walked You. The multi-talented singer—who’s also a saxophonist, model, dancer and world traveler—updates jazz chestnuts such as “Autumn Leaves” and “The Days of Wine and Roses,” as well as original tunes written with keyboardist/musical director Mike Levine. The latter include “With You,” the title track to her 2005 debut, and “Together Yet Alone,” from the 2007 disc Over and Over Again, featuring Ira Sullivan on  flugelhorn. Saxophonist Jesse Jones Jr. joins Dozier for a foot-stomping jazz shuffle version of CCR’s “Proud Mary,” which is right in keeping with her method of jazzing up hits by the likes of Van Morrison and The Platters. BM

PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND & THE DEL MCCOURY BAND
MAHAFFEY THEATER, ST. PETERSBURG/SEPT. 26
Two forms of authentic American music combine in this unique pairing of traditional jazz and bluegrass bands. Each of the acts is a family affair. Allan Jaffe opened Preservation Hall in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 1961 with his wife Sandra, and he started touring as a tuba player with its jazz band two years later. Their son, Ben Jaffe, is now the group’s tuba player and creative director. Singing guitarist Del McCoury (pictured) formed his bluegrass band in 1967, and solidified it by adding sons Ronnie McCoury (mandolin/vocals) and Robbie McCoury (banjo/vocals) in the 1980s. A move from Pennsylvania to Nashville 20 years ago jumpstarted the career of the family band, which now boasts famous fans from country star Vince Gill to pop chameleon Elvis Costello. The McCourys teamed with the Preservation Hall band for a stellar 2011 CD, American Legacies, on which they fused jazz and bluegrass on classics like “Jambalaya,” “The Sugar Blues” and “I’ll Fly Away.” BM

ORLANDO JAZZ ORCHESTRA TRIBUTE TO THE SAXOPHONE GREATS
PLAZA LIVE, ORLANDO/SEPT. 30
The Orlando Jazz Orchestra plays themed concerts honoring the likes of Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman, and its recent tributes have included Count Basie, Mel Tormé, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. Musical director and drummer Greg Parnell’s experience includes playing with orchestras led by Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, and Nelson Riddle, and he leads both a full orchestra or 9-to-11-piece “Dectet” depending on the setting. For this month’s “Tribute to the Saxophone Greats” — which will include nods to Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Lester Young and more — he’ll bring out the full 16-piece ensemble with saxophonists Dave MacKenzie, John Orsini, Gabe Carson, Rex Wertz and Dave Weaver; trumpeters Charlie Bertini, Matt McCarthy, Joe Young IV and Shawn Gratz; trombonists
Frank Wosar, Cory Paul, H a r o l d Johnson and Dale Edwards; pianist Carey Frank and bassist Ben Kramer. BM

JOEY GILMORE
JAZZ (AND A LITTLE BIT OF BLUES)
JACKSON SOUL FOOD, MIAMI/SEPT. 7
Jackson Soul Food is an institution in Miami’s Overtown. So are the performers who will be taking part in the Overtown Music Project’s Jazz (and a Little Bit of Blues). Headliner Joey Gilmore can recall the area’s heyday, when black artists were prohibited from staying overnight on Miami Beach, and thus headed “over town,” where jazz, blues and R&B thrived. The Ocala-born Gilmore’s talents as a powerful vocalist and guitarist launched him into the spotlight, and he’d have success with soul-blues singles in the 1970s. In the 1990s, Gilmore released a string of excellent albums that introduced him to new audiences as a still-vital voice of the genre. And he continues to prove his brilliance on recent recordings, such as 2006’s Ghosts of Mississippi, which helped him win that year’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Gilmore will be joined on the bill by fellow Overtown icons including jazz singer Mel Dancy, and blues-R&B singers Bobby Stringer, Tree Top and FranCina Jones. BW

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