Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

CONNICK, Harry Jr

(b Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr, 11 September 1967, New Orleans) Singer, jazz pianist, arraanger, bandleader, actor; influenced by Frank Sinatra, Erroll Garner and Robert Farnon. He became a star with Sinatra's ballad style and good looks to match, then puzzled fans by proving that there was more to him than that: he is steeped in New Orleans R&B club music and had studied jazz with Ellis Marsalis, father of Wynton and Branford. He also worked with and was influenced by a superb New Orleans pianist, James Booker, who was a heroin addict and died just as he was straightening himself out.

Obviously talented, he signed with Columbia as a teenager; his first album was Harry Connick Jr with Ron Carter on bass; then the soundtrack for the hit romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally '89 had him singing standards like 'But Not For Me' and 'It Had To Be You': the album reached the top 50 in Billboard. We Are In Love '90 was more of the same, though with somewhat less familiar songs; with Connick's trio plus strings and guest Branford Marsalis it went top 25, but Lofty's Roach Soufflé was an instrumental trio set (with bassist Benjamin Wolfe, drummer Shannon Powell) and barely made the top 100. 20 '91 was another set of standards recorded '88 when Connick was 20 years old, with guests Dr John and Carmen McRae, and was back in the top 50; Blue Light, Red Light '91 had a more New Orleans flavour, with tunes like 'Last Payday' and 'She Belongs To Me', but still almost made the top 50. 11 and 25 were released '92 with sequential Columbia catalogue numbers: the first (recorded when he was eleven years old) had him accompanied by a New Orleans-type ensemble and didn't chart; the other was another set of standards (though he sneaked in a tune by John Coltrane) with guests including Ray Brown and Ellis Marsalis, and made the top ten. A Christmas album '93 and She '94 were both in the top 20, the latter a switch to poppish funk, followed by Star Turtle '96, more of the same and further away from jazz. To See You '98 was romantic ballads. '(I Could Only) Whisper Your Name' from She reached the Hot 100 singles. He acted in films Memphis Belle '90, Little Man Tate '91, Independence Day '96 and also scored another romantic comedy, Sleepless In Seattle. Among many other acting gigs was a recurrent part in the popular TV comedy Will & Grace 2004-6.

Another Christmas album, Harry For The Holidays 2003, was a delight, some of the arrangements definitely aimed at grown-up ears. Connick is good value on stage, a personable leader in any context, and it is a pleasure to see any popular entertainer fronting a big band; but it is the fate of a revivalist to sound like an imitator: pianist and arranger Paul Smith (d 29 June 2013 age 91), who played for most of the greatest, especially Sinatra, joked that he was tempted to quit playing in clubs because people kept asking for Harry Connick songs, which turned out to be songs Smith was playing long before Connick was born.