Harry Connick Jr. has always straddled jazz and pop. It's called earning a living. I think most readers believe that if you can swing it, go for it. Certainly Quincy Jones, Henry Mancini, Johnny Mandel and many other jazz musicians spent solid time in commercial space while retaining a jazz flavor. Born in New Orleans, schooled in piano and arranging by Ellis Marsalis, and childhood pals of Wynton and Branford, Harry is insanely talented. I had a opportunity to spend one-on-one time with him recently. He's humble, tremendously good looking, taller and more fit than you'd imagine, deeply polite and friendly. [Photo above of Harry Connick Jr. courtesy of Harry Connick Jr.]
On his new album out today, True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter (Verve), Harry did everything except play all the instruments. In addition to singing, he wrote the arrangements for the accompanying big band and strings, orchestrated the score and played piano. And starting December 7, he'll be on Broadway for three weeks singing and playing the Cole Porter songbook.
Many seasoned jazz fans are weary of Cole Porter. I know I am. Like you, I spent years listening to Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee and dozens of others cover Porter. But what's fascinating about Harry's new album aren't the songs but the charts and his vocal treatments. His arrangements are reminiscent of Billy May's and Nelson Riddle's work for Sinatra's Capitol sessions, and Harry's voice certainly has a Sinatra feel. But it's more sensitive and closer to the love-struck 1940s Frank than the Capitol cad. [Photo above of Cole Porter]
High points include the Riddle-esque In the Still of the Night (dig the string writing and wooing vocal); All of You; the lesser-known Mind If I Make Love to You; Why Can't You Behave; True Love, with a salute to Billy May's bending the saxes; and You Do Something to Me, with a soul-jazz, rumba rhythm. [Photo above of Nelson Riddle and Frank Sinatra]
As Harry and I listened to his new album recently, he wasn't eager to talk about arrangers who might have influenced him on different songs. "There's no real influence," he said. "I just had fun. I did a ton of research on Porter at Yale, and it's how I hear Porter's music." [Photo above of Harry Connick Jr. courtesy of Harry Connick Jr.]
JazzWax tracks: You'll find True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter (Verve) here (download) and here (CD and vinyl).
You'll also find the album at Spotify.
JazzWax: Here's a promo video for the album, which probably give us a taste of what Harry's Broadway run in December will look like...
