|
|
|
|
|
|
With very few exceptions, the career of Harry Connick, Jr. can be divided in
half -- his first two albums encompassed straight-ahead New Orleans jazz and
stride piano while his later career (which paralleled his rising celebrity
status) alternated between more contemporary New Orleans music and pop
vocals with a debt to Frank Sinatra. Born in New Orleans on September 11,
1967, Connick grew up the son of two lawyers who owned a record store. After
beginning on keyboards at the age of three, he first performed publicly at
six, and recorded with a local jazz band at ten.
***
***
Connick attended the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and studied
with Ellis Marsalis and James Booker. A move to New York to study at Hunter
College and the Manhattan School of Music gave him the opportunity to look
up a Columbia Records executive who had asked to see him, and Connick's self-titled
album debut -- a set of mostly unaccompanied standards -- appeared in 1987.
Jazz critics praised Connick's maturity and engaging style as well as his
extended stays at New York hot spots during the year. His second album,
named for his age in 1988, was the first to feature him on vocals. Already
well known within jazz circles, Harry Connick, Jr. entered the American
consciousness with the soundtrack to 1989's popular film When Harry Met
Sally. Director Rob Reiner had asked Connick to compose a soundtrack, and he
recorded several warm standards ("It Had to Be You," "Let's Call the Whole
Thing Off," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore") with a big-band backing. A
world tour followed, and When Harry Met Sally eventually reached double-platinum
status. With Connick a major celebrity, he diverged into an acting career,
playing a tail gunner in 1990's Memphis Belle. That same year, he released
two albums simultaneously: one, We Are in Love, was another vocal outing
with similar standards as had appeared on When Harry Met Sally, while
Lofty's Roach Souffle was all-instrumental. (Of course, the vocal album
performed much better in the pop charts, hitting double platinum, while the
instrumentals worked better with jazz audiences.) Connick toured again, this
time with a big band, and recorded the group on 1991's Blue Light, Red
Light. Though his celebrity decreased slightly during the mid-'90s,
Connick's albums continued to reach platinum status, including 1992's 25, a
1993 Christmas album, and 1994's She. Connick continued his acting work with
a starring role in 1995's Copycat (where he played a serial killer) and
married actress Jill Goodacre. In 1996, he had a brief role in the year's
biggest blockbuster, Independence Day, but his album Star Turtle failed to
connect with pop audiences. Come by Me, a return to big band sounds,
followed in 1999. In the new millennium, Connick cycled between albums
exploring his jazz roots and those with songbook standards. Interestingly,
post-2001 Connick moved between two labels with albums getting released on
both Columbia Records and saxophonist Branford Marsalis' Marsalis Music
label. Among these were the big band album Only You featuring popular music
from the '50s and '60s and the more intimate releases Other Hours: Connick
on Piano, Vol. 1 (2003) and Occasion: Connick on Piano, Vol. 2 (2005), which
focused on Connick's instrumental abilities. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
HARRY CONNICK JR PICTURES |
|
|
|
MOST POPULAR
Angelina Jolie
Jessica Alba
Paris Hilton
Scarlett Johansson
Jessica Simpson
Britney Spears
Christina Aguilera
Lindsay Lohan
Shakira
Beyonce
Hilary Duff
ADDITIONS
Miley Cyrus
Rihanna
Hayden Panettiere
Miranda Cosgrove
Selena Gomez
Demi Lovato
Vanessa Hudgens
Ashley Tisdale
Jonas Brothers
|
