By Andrew Poretz …
Quintin Harris is more than just a pretty face. As the “Dean Martin” to Bryce Edwards’ “Jerry Lewis” in their popular “Mr. Harris and Mr. Edwards” musical comedy act, one only got a glimpse of the young performer’s prowess as a jazz pianist and singer. The duo has since focused on forging their individual musical paths. This writer first reviewed The Quintin Harris Trio’s jazz show in 2022 (read HERE), and there has been much growth since then.
The trio’s most recent appearance, at The Green Room 42, was a somewhat loose set of jazz standards and obscure pieces. Mr. Harris was backed by bassist Sam AuBuchon and drummer Marlen Suero-Amparo. The star sat at the piano wearing a black suit, with a white, open-necked dress shirt.
The trio opened with a blues instrumental, “Popsy” (Bobby Timmons). The tune featured very smart playing by Mr. Harris. On “Almost Like Being in Love” (Frederick Loewe/Alan Jay Lerner) Quintin sang in a nearly vocalese manner. Mr. AuBuchon, wearing his trademark red beret, provided sizzling bass work.
Mr. Harris brought out his billed special guest, Anaïs Reno, a dynamic young singer who has appeared in many of this writer’s reviews, for both her solo shows and as a guest in others. Ms. Reno, dressed in a form-fitting, sleeveless black top and brown skirt, sang Duke Ellington’s “I’m Beginning to See the Light.” She was in excellent voice and totally on her game. This happens to be one of the most “quoted” tunes in all of jazz. Mr. AuBuchon inserted another oft-quoted song reference, “Pop Goes the Weasel,” into his solo. Very meta!
Ms. Reno followed this with the relatively obscure, exquisitely sang “Lazy Afternoon” (John La Touche/Jerome Moross). The arrangement required some intricate rhythm work, which Ms. Suero-Amparo capably provided.
Mr. Harris’s arrangement of “Everything Happens To Me” (Tom Adair/Matt Dennis) was quite innovative in his choices both as a singer and a pianist. Eschewing the verse, he sang around the song as written, again in a near-vocalese approach. He threw in a few cute lyric updates, replacing “the measles and the mumps” with “Corona and the mumps,” with an apparent political barb in his aside that he no longer likes the word “trumps.” Oddly, he chose this song as a tribute to the recently departed Tony Bennett, though Tony never recorded it. (This may have been a new arrangement, as he did not quite nail it the way he would a week later at The Lineup with Susie Mosher at Birdland Theater.)
The star called up another guest, trumpeter Dakarai Barclay, for some fine work on “On The Trail” (Ferde Grofé), before bringing back Anaïs Reno for “Prisoner of Love” (Russ Columbo and Clarence Gaskill/Leo Robin). Interestingly, Ms. Reno kept the gender of the song—“She’s in my dreams awake or sleeping/Upon my knees to her I’m creeping”—which lands quite differently when sung by the same sex, but she later made clear privately that this was no statement; she merely prefers to sing the lyrics as written.
A wonderfully unexpected surprise came in the form of Quintin’s father, Larry Harris, making a guest appearance. The elder Mr. Harris is a retired opera singer who previously spent more than seven years as an NFL offensive tackle—he’s as huge as you would expect. The big man, who has had a series of health scares in recent years, came out of retirement for his son. He struggled to the stage with the help of a cane and the much smaller Quintin’s assistance. Once there, despite his clear physical discomfort, he sang an astonishingly stunning “But Beautiful” (Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Burke). He sang not in his full operative deep baritone, but using the most delicate part of his head voice. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
The trio finished strong with “Sonny’s Crip,” with Mr. Harris’s own arrangement of the Sonny Cark instrumental.
The Quintin Harris Trio is going places. Birdland owner Gianni Valenti, who knows a thing or two about burgeoning talent, was overheard telling people to “keep an eye on this kid.” In a world of homogenous, synthesized and Auto-Tuned pop music, it is thrilling to see young, committed jazz musicians like these cats. All of the performers (aside from Quintin’s father) are in their early 20s, and quite promising. As a sideman, Mr. AuBuchon is particularly outstanding. He brings a great understanding of the melody and even the lyrics to his bass solos, making them sing like only the best do, with the technical skills to pull off his ideas.
The Quintin Harris Trio performed on July 25 at The Green Room 42 in the Yotel Hotel (570 Tenth Avenue, between West 41st and 42nd Streets) thegreenroom42.venuetix.com
Photos: Hoyeon Choi except where indicated
