The Now series is known for crossing the boundaries of record labels in its attempt to provide definitive collections of hits -- usually from contemporary hits, but also of different eras and styles from the past (at least in its U.K. incarnation). Thankfully, the double-disc, 36-track collection Now That's What I Call Christmas! lives up to the ...
For this Christmas jazz album, Harry Connick, Jr. emphasizes his vocals (his piano playing is quite secondary) as he sings ten familiar Christmas songs plus four of his somewhat forgettable originals while joined by a big band, a string section, and background singers. The results are reasonably pleasing, but of little interest to jazz listeners. ...
Harry Connick, Jr.'s vocals perfectly fit the moods throughout the 1989 Billy Crystal film When Harry Met Sally. This soundtrack album (which stands apart from the movie) was a big hit and a major step forward for the young pianist-vocalist, although it appears to have been the high point of his career. Connick warmly sings such numbers as "It Had ...
Ten years after his first holiday-themed album, When My Heart Finds Christmas, pianist/vocalist Harry Connick, Jr. found the spirit again with Harry for the Holidays. Still centered on Connick's vocals, this foray into "tinsel tunes" is more jazz oriented than his 1993 release and allows for his growth as a performer, arranger, and conductor. Like ...
Featuring ballads from the '50s and '60s, Only You finds vocalist/pianist Harry Connick, Jr. further developing his contemporary crooner aesthetic. Having begun his career covering popular songs from the '20s through the '40s, it's surprising that Connick never before explored tunes from the baby boomer era. In some ways, it's almost as if he ...
After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in the summer of 2005, musician Harry Connick, Jr. was one of the first people to lend not only his celebrity, but also his own two hands in aid to the survivors of the catastrophe. Connick brought a television crew with him as he traveled through his damaged hometown and shot footage to help draw ...
This 1992 CD is a throwback to Harry Connick's earlier sets for it mostly features the pianist-vocalist on a solo set of standards. Ellis Marsalis drops by to back Connick's vocal on "Stardust," Connick accompanies Johnny Adams' singing on "Lazybones," and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" is a trio outing with tenor saxophonist Ned Goold ...
This Christmas jazz CD contains 14 performances, a dozen of them not available on other sets. The two exceptions are Tony Bennett's 1987 "White Christmas" (which contains one of tenor-saxophonist Dexter Gordon's last recordings, a brief and weak statement) and Wynton Marsalis's "Winter Wonderland." Other musicians who are featured include Harry ...
Harry Connick, Jr. spent most of the '90s exploring second-line funk, making a name for himself in movies, and generally distancing himself from his classic crooner image. By the late '90s, it seemed as if the pianist/vocalist had lost the plot and it was hard to remember what made him such a phenomenal jazz talent. Then came 1997's romantic ...
Pairing up the 2006 Broadway cast album of The Pajama Game and a newly recorded studio version of the 2001 musical Thou Shalt Not, Harry on Broadway, Act 1 showcases singer/pianist/composer Harry Connick, Jr.'s two forays onto the Great White Way. While Connick did not originally perform in Thou Shalt Not, here he takes on the lead in his ...
Chanson du Vieux Carre should simply be titled Harry Connick, Jr.'s New Orleans album. The material chosen for this set is comprised of jazz tunes associated with the Crescent City, or simply tunes Connick wrote about it. According to the liner notes, he arranged it all on his computer while traveling from gig to gig over a period of years. The ...
To commemorate the end of the century, Sony Music assembled the gargantuan 26-disc box set Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century. The title was imposing, as was the idea behind it -- to chronicle the life of the oldest record label in the music industry. To be clear, Sony Music hasn't existed for 100 years, but the heart of its catalog, ...
Star Turtle is Harry Connick, Jr.'s most ambitious album, a four-part suite that attempts to tell the evolution of jazz and R&B to funk and rock. Given such an unwieldy concept, it's surprising how well the album works, actually. Connick can play jazz and R&B with flair, if not much identity. What sinks the album is when he treads too closely to ...
On a set of mostly unaccompanied piano solos and vocals, Harry Connick, Jr., shows a great deal of potential. His renditions of 11 standards are highlighted by collaborations with singer-organist Dr. John on "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" and especially a memorable vocal duet with Carmen McRae on "Please Don't Talk About Me When I ...
His third holiday-themed album, 2008's What a Night! A Christmas Album continues vocalist/pianist Harry Connick, Jr.'s tradition of delivering swinging jazz and pop versions of various tinsel tunes new and old. Recorded with a big band and orchestra, this is a terrific collection of songs making the most of Connick's knack for modern-day crooning ...
Harry Connick, Jr.'s Occasion: Connick on Piano, Vol.2, the follow-up to 2003's Other Hours: Connick on Piano, Vol. 1, finds the jazz pianist in an intimate duo setting with saxophonist and Marsalis Music label owner Branford Marsalis. While well known as a jazz vocalist, Connick's intention on these volumes is to focus solely on his abilities as ...
This is the debut of the various- and single-artist compilations that Columbia would release in its I Like Jazz series. In many ways, it is also the most curious. Where other volumes concentrated on using the tradition in contemporary forms juxtaposed against traditional ones, this one relies deeply on traditional interpretations of those tunes, ...
After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in the summer of 2005, musician Harry Connick, Jr. was one of the first people to lend not only his celebrity, but also his own two hands in aid to the survivors of the catastrophe. Connick brought a television crew with him as he traveled through his damaged hometown and shot footage to help draw ...
At one point in 1990, two Harry Connick, Jr. albums were released almost simultaneously, an instrumental outing with his trio (Lofty's Roach Souffle) and this vocal-oriented album. Oddly enough We Are in Love is the more successful of the two. Connick's vocals, while limited, are personable, guitarist Russell Malone gets in some short solos and ...
Harry Connick is heard in three roles on this CD. As a jazz pianist, he makes some cameo appearances and shows that his playing has evolved a bit from his earlier years. Connick has matured as a vocalist, and he sounds fine backed by a string orchestra and his quartet, never stretching himself. All ten selections (ballads dealing with love) are ...
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