Allan Harris-OPEN UP YOUR MIND (Love Productions Records 2011)

The headwaters of the protean talent that is Allan Harris, a baritone crooner with a husky edge, may be Nat King Cole and his trio. But to describe this pop-jazz singer, composer and guitarist as a gifted Cole acolyte doesn t take into account the winding tributaries that bring in the blues, folk, pop-soul, light funk, Americana and Broadway flavors. Together they flow into a fertile musical delta that reflects Mr. Harris s unfashionably hopeful vision of multicultural America. (Stephen Holden) --New York Times