Disc Must Be the Place Set Break
By Scott Jordan

Leigh Harris - Polychrome Junction (Self-released) Like Clark and McDermott, vocalist "Little Queenie" Harris effortlessly travels the musical spectrum, growling her original gutbucket New Orleans blues "Dog Days," or delicately floating through a standard like "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most." Harris is in, superb company here, with drummer Karl Budo and percussionist Michael Skinkus providing the rhythmic beds on Polychrome Junction, but it's the tonal colors of pianist Josh Paxton and Hammond B-3 organist David Ellington that warmly embrace Harris' voice as both foils and equals. On tracks like Earl King's "Make a Better World," Paxton gets to indulge his Fess and Booker jones, and Ellington rolls out wave after wave of organ swells, launching Harris into a joyous affirmation on the chorus.