| Harry
Connick Jr. with very few
exceptions, can be divided in half --
his first two albums encompassed
straightahead 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
hotspots 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. 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 and
married actress Jill Goodacre. In 1996,
he had a brief role in the year's
biggest blockbuster, Independence
Day. Come by Me, a return to
big band sounds, followed in 1999. |
