Harry Allen

Born in Washington D.C. in 1966, Harry Allen has established himself in American jazz with a tenor saxophone style anchored in the swing tradition and standards. Trained early by listening to the great classic tenors, he develops a supple, clear and singing tone, in an aesthetics that prolongs the heritage of Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster or Zoot Sims, with fluent phrasing and a marked taste for melodies. A Rutgers University graduate in 1988, Harry Allen began recording as a leader in the late 1980s with How Long Has This Been Going On? (1989), then built an abundant discography between mainstream jazz, ballads, musical theater repertoires and incursions into bossa nova. Over the years, he has played and recorded with John Pizzarelli, Bucky Pizzarelli, Scott Hamilton, Bill Charlap, Hank Jones, Monty Alexander, Keith Ingham or Nicki Parrott, in settings ranging from duo to quintet. Present in both New York clubs and on European and Japanese stages, he has released several notable albums such as Heavy Juice with Scott Hamilton in 2004, Blues for Pres and Teddy in 2011 and Something about Jobim in 2015, illustrating the continuity of his approach, between rhythmic elegance, discreet lyricism and fidelity to the language of acoustic jazz.