Allan Harris new Christmas CD, Dedicated to You: "Allan Harris Sings a Nat King Cole Christmas"

On Tuesday, December 7, 2009, Allan Harris will release his new Christmas CD, Dedicated to You: Allan Harris Sings a Nat King Cole Christmas featuring the rare holiday classic The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot made famous by Nat King Cole. The CD also features Harris on guitar on Blue Christmas and a swinging duet with jazz vocalist Rene Marie on Baby It's Cold Outside. It was recorded at KUVO Radio Station in Denver, Colorado in front of a live studio audience last Christmas.
The musicians on Dedicated to You: Allan Harris Sings a Nat King Cole Christmas are Denver based pianist Eric Gunnison (toured and recorded with Carmen McCrae) Mark Simon on bass (also toured with Carmen McCrae) and Paul Romaine on drums (founder of the Colorado Conservatory of Jazz Arts). The CD was produced by Allan's wife and manager Pat Harris in collaboration Will Barnett from KUVO Radio. Says Allan: “These 14 songs I chose from Nat’s Christmas recordings are my personal favorites. I have wanted to do a Christmas CD for many years so when KUVO expressed their interest in hosting a live Christmas recording for an in-studio audience, I jumped at the idea. The night was made even more magical by the lovely addition of jazz vocalist Rene Marie who graced the recording with her beautiful voice.”

This December, Allan Harris and his trio will be on tour at the following venues:
December 11 The Miller Theatre, NYC (with Eric Reed)
December 15 One World Theatre, Austin , TX
December 16 San Angelo, TX Gentleman's Society
December 19 Dazzles, Denver, CO (with Eric Gunnison Trio)
December 23 Metropolitan Room, NYC 7:30 PM
Dec. 28-Jan. 4 Umbria Winter Fest 17

“Somewhere along the line Allan Harris developed an almost eerie talent for evoking Cole's mellow baritone. Because it's a gift, not a gimmick, audiences soon become aware that Harris and Cole naturally share the same vocal wavelength.” (THE WASHINGTON POST) In fact, his very first New York review in The New York Post read: “The Man Who Would Be Cole.” At that time, Harris wasn’t ready for such comparisons, but a few years later he was contacted by Camelot Productions in Israel to see if he’d consider doing a 10-day tour in tribute to Cole. The tour was a tremendous success – all 10 shows were sold out and the crowds demanded encores at every venue. Later, The Kennedy Center called to see if he'd be interested in doing a tribute for their Jazz series at the Terrace Theatre. They decided to do a live recording of the two-night engagement and the CD "Long Live the King" was released in 2007.