[Dixielandjazz] Harry Connick Jr. reviewed

[Robert Ringwald]

Harry Connick Jr. reviewed

Harry Connick Jr.: In Concert on Broadway (Sony)
by Christopher Loudon
Jazz Times, May 2011

Harry Connick Jr.'s mid-career concert mastery is largely defined by two factors,
both strongly evident throughout this 76-minute session from last summer, recorded
on the final night of an extended Broadway run at the Neil Simon Theatre. First is
Connick's ability to convey a sense of artless camaraderie. Plenty of performers,
you might argue, share that skill. But none, past or present, can quite match his
puckish insouciance. What once hinted at arrogance now suggests lighthearted self-confidence.
Second is Connick's programming craftiness. He can play a room -- which, given the
scale of his venues, typically leans toward the MOR crowd -- like an angler playing
a slippery fish. He lures them in with the comfortable, the familiar: a dependable
romantic standard like "The Way You Look Tonight," and a couple of well-placed selections
from his recent, decidedly populist studio album, "Your Songs." He layers in the
jazz slowly: a blistering piano solo torching the heart of "Besame Mucho," a sharply
intuitive reading of "How Insensitive" that echoes the interpretive prowess of Sinatra
or even Holiday.
Before the assembled multitude knows what's hit them he is in full jazz mode, bouncing
through a coltish "Bayou Maharajah," paying august homage to James Booker and, ultimately,
transforming an NYC theater into a full-blown Bourbon Street revelry.


--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
530/ 642-9551 Office
916/ 806-9551 Cell
Amateur (Ham) Radio K6YBV

Paddy says "Mick, I'm thinking of buying a German Shepherd." 
"Are you crazy," says Mick, "Have you seen how many of their owners go blind?"