01. Got a Lot of Livin' to Do
02. Miami
03. Catfish
04. I Got the Blues (Lester Leaps In)
05. A Little Bit Scared
06. Take Me to the Pilot
07. Love's the Key
08. My Funny Valentine
09. Can It Be This Is a Dream
10. Daughters
11. Stranger on the Shore
12. You Make Me Feel so Young
13. Haven't We Met - Bonus Track

The myriad fans who’ve fallen under the spell of Gregory Porter need to give Allan Harris a listen. Though Harris has a dozen previous albums to his credit, including fine tributes to Nat King Cole and Billy Strayhorn, he seems long overdue for Porter-sized accolades.

For Black Bar Jukebox, a sly collection of covers and originals, Harris borrows Porter producer Brian Bacchus, who draws forth many of the qualities that have propelled Porter to superstardom: the same laidback assurance and that enticing blend of Sammy Davis Jr. dynamism, Cole sophistication and George Benson jazz smarts.

Eight of the 13 tracks are covers, extending from the plushness of “My Funny Valentine” and show-tune fizz of “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” to a masterfully soulful rendition of Bernie Taupin and Elton John’s “Take Me to the Pilot” and a moving midtempo treatment of John Mayer’s “Daughters” (the sole track featuring Harris’ distinguished guitar work). There’s also a double nod to Kenny Rankin, with a bossa-driven “Catfish” and the lovely, lilting “Haven’t We Met?,” plus a rendering of Eddie Jefferson’s “I Got the Blues” (based on “Lester Leaps In”).

The four Harris originals are equally wide-ranging, beginning with the silken “Miami” (strongly reminiscent of “Where Flamingos Fly”) and misty “Can It Be This Is a Dream,” and progressing to the swinging optimism of “Love’s the Key” and the edge-of-breakup anthem “A Little Bit Scared.” --- Christopher Loudon, jazztimes.com

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1. Allan Harris - Can't Live My Life Without You
2. Allan Harris - Hold You
3. Allan Harris - Fly Me to the Moon
4. Allan Harris - Color of a Woman
5. Allan Harris - There She Goes
6. Allan Harris - Autumn
7. Allan Harris - Shores of Istanbul
8. Allan Harris - Inner Fear
9. Allan Harris - Open Up Your Mind
10. Allan Harris - I Do Believe 

There is Allan Harris the romantic troubadour, serving up platters of Billy Strayhorn, Ellington and Nat King Cole tunes with his distinctly Cole-esque baritone. There is also Harris the singer-storyteller, two volumes-2006’s Cross That River and its 2009 companion Cry of the Thunderbird-into his vibrant saga of unsung black cowboys, their trials and triumphs.

Not until now, however, as his recording career enters its third decade, has an entire album been devoted to a meeting of Harris the romantic and Harris the songwriter. The inescapable Cole-ness that defined so much of his earlier work has all but disappeared. (Intriguingly, it only surfaces on the album’s sole cover, a gently funkified “Fly Me to the Moon,” suggesting that original material unleashes a more original Harris.) Instead, he eases into a smooth R&B groove more evocative of Teddy Pendergrass and Luther Vandross.

The material, though consistently charming, is occasionally derivative. “Color of a Woman” suggests a mellower take on Sinatra’s mid-’60s quasi-hit “Tell Her (You Love Her Each Day),” the sparkling “Hold Me” sounds as if it was plucked from the Stylistics’ ’70s songbook, and “There She Goes” echoes countless other if-only-she’d-notice-me laments. But when Harris examines more distinctive sentiments, such as the swirling, mysteriously exotic “Shores of Istanbul” or the sinister, duplicitous “Inner Fear,” the results are impressively fresh and invigorating. ---Christopher Loudon, jazztimes.com

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