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.
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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,
Connick 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. As well as releasing albums,
Connick continued to act, appearing regularly on the television sitcom Will & Grace before it ended in 2006. Ever devoted to his hometown,
Connick was also heavily involved in the support and rebuilding of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina. In early September 2005, he organized the benefit telethon A Concert for Hurricane Relief on NBC to raise money for and draw attention to the beleaguered residents of New Orleans. Afterward, he worked closely with Habitat for Humanity in helping victims of Katrina. In 2007,
Connick once again expressed his deep love for his hometown with the release of his New Orleans tribute album,
Oh, My Nola, on Columbia Records. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
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