#HarryConnickJr.

Harry Connick, Jr. plans to launch "the jazz version of talk shows." https://t.co/xIggNcEd3b

— Ted Gioia (@tedgioia) August 10, 2016

Harry Connick Jr. to attend New Orleans screening of Louisiana TV special

By: Stacey Plaisance, The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS - Grammy-winning jazz singer Harry Connick Jr. is returning to his hometown for the screening of a television show that pays tribute to the music of Louisiana.

The show, a Louisiana Public Broadcasting special called "Sunshine by the Stars: Celebrating Louisiana Music," is a mix of music, interviews and video snapshots of Louisiana's economic drivers, including tourism, and oil and gas. It includes renditions of "You Are My Sunshine" by Connick, Tim McGraw, Irma Thomas, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Guy and others.

The show premieres on LPB stations on Dec. 9 and will be available to PBS affiliates nationwide next year.

An invitation-only screening is planned Wednesday at the Old U.S. Mint in the French Quarter. It will precede a gala being attended by several of the film's participants.

Plans for the project were announced earlier this year by Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, who said the venture was being paid for by BP PLC.

After its massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, BP gave tourism officials in Louisiana $30 million to help the state win tourists back. Funding for production of "Sunshine by the Stars" and its promotion — which cost about $1 million in all — came on top of that money, said Jacques Berry, a spokesman for the lieutenant governor.

Read more on: http://www.brandonsun.com/entertainment/breaking-news/harry-connick-jr-to-attend-new-orleans-screening-of-louisiana-tv-special-182092331.html

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2011 file photo, Harry Connick Jr. appears at the curtain call for the opening night performance of the Broadway musical "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever", in New York. He is returning to his hometown New Orleans for the screening of a television show he's hosting and performing in that pays tribute to the music of Louisiana. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

Connick, Marsalis Celebrate New Orleans Roots

Photo by  >>  Frank Hunter/Palma Kolansky

by Terry Gross
October 12, 2005 - Musicians Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis, two New Orleans natives, have been friends for years -- back to the days when Connick took piano lessons from Marsalis' father, Ellis.

And when their hometown was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, Marsalis and Connick sought to help any way they could. Marsalis' brother Wynton organized a benefit concert in New York. And Branford's label, Marsalis Music, is releasing a benefit CD, Celebration of New Orleans Music to Benefit the Musicares Hurricane Relief.

Connick returned to the city in early September, navigating its streets by boat and offering help where he could. Some of his experiences there became stories he submitted to NBC's Today show. As the extent of the disaster became evident, Connick signed on with Habitat for Humanity to serve as honorary chair of "Operation Home Delivery," an effort to rebuild housing for families along the Gulf Coast.
Complete on  >>  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4954281

New Harry Connick Jr. Album

Over the past two decades, Harry Connick, Jr. has taken a very hands-on approach to his recording career. The multi-talented Connick has called the shots at the numerous phases of his album projects--writing original material or picking songs, choosing the ensemble settings and writing arrangements, singing and playing piano, and with the aid of co-producer and longtime confidant, Tracey Freeman, overseeing mixing and mastering. Whether performing the American Songbook or in the jazz, blues or funk idiom, the process has yielded consistent success, not to mention worldwide sales of over 25 million discs.
For Your Songs, his newest collection on Columbia Records, Connick expands his vision to encompass 14 classic popular songs; his instrumental pallet through a striking integration of a string orchestra and his swinging Big Band; and his basic approach to recording.

Clive Davis, the legendary producer and Chief Creative Officer of Sony Music Entertainment, is the driving force behind the change. “The term 'producer' is normally kind of nebulous in my environment," Connick says. “He might set up the sessions and ensure that we get the best possible sound. Tracey has done that, and acted as a sounding board; but I always made all the musical decisions. As my co-producer on this album, Clive was very involved in the overall concept, song selection and choice of tempos. And, although he didn't come to the studio when we recorded, he gave me lots of comments on the mixes." It was Davis who suggested that the album be built around pop classics. “He wanted to feature me as a singer," Connick notes, “and we threw ideas for songs back and forth for four or five months. He had ideas on the arrangements as well, including a couple that I would have never thought of. It was a new role for me, and it was invigorating."

The songs that Connick and Davis selected include some of the best known work of singer/songwriters Billy Joel ("Just the Way You Are"), Lennon-McCartney ("And I Love Her") and Elton John ("Your Song"), as well as classics made immortal by the likes of Nat Cole ("Mona Lisa"), Frank Sinatra ("All the Way") and Elvis Presley ("Can't Help Falling in Love with You"). “Besame Mucho, “ sung in both Spanish and English, is a long-time favorite of Connick's father, while “Some Enchanted Evening" was included after Connick heard it performed in the current revival of South Pacific. Regardless of the source, however, Connick approached each title with his usual musicality and interpretive strength.

“Although I have wrestled with this for some time, I don't think that anyone's version of a great song, however classic, should preclude my singing it, “ he insists. “I respect the originals, but believe that there is always room for another interpretation. I take each song in its rawest form, as it appears on the sheet music, and go from there." When it came to choosing the proper tempos, Davis' input was critical. “The one thing that Clive repeatedly pounded into my brain, which I had been thinking about myself for a while, was how easy it is for tempos to become too slow. He made an interesting point one day when he said that 'it's not always about a performance.' In other words, don't let a song get so into your head that your version only has personal meaning. He really kept my focus on the songs."

Davis also suggested that Connick orchestrate the album, rather than turning arranging chores over to someone else. “I was fine with that, and even kind of excited," Connick admits. “To use a film analogy, it would have been like an actor showing up on a movie set, knowing that the director and producer had worried about everything else. But Clive persuaded me to do it myself." It was a wise decision, as Connick displays a unique and subtle manner of balancing the sensitivity of strings and the punch of his big band. “I have never really been able to do that kind of writing throughout an entire record, “ he acknowledges. “It's a more spacious approach, with the orchestra in service to the singing; and it was a kick to sing over those charts."

Connick's vocals are also in service to the songs, as are the contributions of his featured guests Branford Marsalis (heard on “All the Way"), Wynton Marsalis ("Can't Help Falling in Love with You" and “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)") and Bryan Sutton ("Can't Help Falling in Love with You" and “And I Love You So"), as well as longtime Connick Big Band stalwarts Leroy Jones ("(They Long to Be) Close to You") and Jerry Weldon ("Mona Lisa"). “As a singer, I'm pretty straight with the melodies, and when the soloists asked me what I wanted them to do, I explained that this record is supposed to be straight. Playing a melody straight can be deceptively hard. As my bass player Neal Caine pointed out, the album was a great lesson in discipline, and a great way to understand your function in the overall process. On this record, as a pianist, there were times when I would go to play my part with the tape rolling and hardly play anything, because it was all already there."

What was already there, of course, was a collection of timeless songs, collaboration with a legendary producer, and the unprecedented talent that is Harry Connick, Jr., monumental parts that together have created the even greater whole that is Your Songs.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=43019

Harry Connick Jr. - Connick Jr's Home Invasion

Jazz singer HARRY CONNICK JR. broke into his childhood New Orleans home after it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, so he could show his kids where he grew up. The clean-cut New Orleans native has remained actively involved in efforts to rebuild the city that was damaged in 2005 by Katrina, which killed an estimated 1,836 people and left thousands more homeless.
The singer has urged celebrities to visit the area in an effort to rebuild its struggling economy.
And Connick Jr. admits he didn't wait for the family who lived in his childhood home to return before leading his own brood through its remains after it had been ravaged by the storm.
He says, "We were pretty lucky. I took them to the house that I grew up in, Lakeview, a few blocks from where the levee broke.
"The house was open. We went inside the house and we had no right to do that. It was amazing walking through the house where I grew up and nothing was there."
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/connick%20jrs%20home%20invasion