Allan Harris & the Cross That River Band

Although Allan Harris is best known as a jazz vocalist, he is no stranger to Southern rock, R&B, blues, country and bluegrass. "Cross That River" is his most ambitious album yet, a country-before-it-was-cool song cycle inspired by the oft-overlooked history of the African American cowboy. This head-turning concept album about a 19th-century slave who becomes a cowboy grabs you from the opening line (Mama said a white man be comin’ in the morning / Gonna drag Big Daddy away) and never lets go. Cross That River demands your attention.

Soon after Allan wrote Cross That River he received a Chamber Music America Grant to present it throughout Harlem schools. Soon after the State of Oklahoma licensed three of the songs to use in their education video to help describe the contributions of African Americans in the West. The Kennedy Center presented the music for their Performing Arts Series in schools across the country; next NPR featured it on Weekend Edition and finally, the Aspen Writer’s Foundation featured it as part of their focus on Western writers, where it debuted a new series entitled “Lyrically Speaking.” Many well-known musicians have been guests in the band, from Vince Gill to Jo Lawry, Christian Howes to Doug Wimbish. It has been performed at Joe’s Pub, the Cutting Room, BB King Blues Club, Mass MoCA (Massachusetts), the Harris Theatre (Chicago) The State Theatre (New Jersey), Belly Up (Aspen) and many more. Allan has opened for Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick, Al Green, and Al Jarreau to name a few. He is an award winning jazz vocalist, Gibson guitar artist, actor, composer, producer and clinician.