Photo: Melissa Ruggieri/AJC
Harry Connick Jr. at his trusty grand piano.
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Here are two new reasons for concertgoers who truly appreciate music to love Harry Connick Jr.
A couple of songs into his Sunday night set at Chastain Park Amphitheatre, the charming – and frank – Connick told the crowd that they were welcome to snap a few photos but, “I don’t want to see you holding up those iPhones filming the whole show.”
Then, midway through his two-hour musical feast, he asked the typically chatty Chastain assembly for a few minutes of quiet so he could perform a special song, accompanied only by his guitarist. The audience complied (see, folks, it IS possible), but Connick, so unnerved by the unusual stillness, couldn’t remember the lyrics to the song.
“I’m so distracted by the silence…I’m literally at a loss for words,” he said.
So he called an audible and instead scurried to his Fender Rhodes piano – one of five instruments he would play throughout the show – and led his ace 13-piece band through a wandering “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” turning the song into a soulful singalong.
It was one of a few spirituals performed by the multi-faceted Connick, who also shared with the audience his love of Broadway show tunes ("On a Clear Day"), bossa nova ("I Love Her," from his new album, "Every Man Should Know"), N'Awlins swing ("Come By Me") and the big band standards that launched his career as a baby-faced prodigy 25 years ago.
Connick’s musical growth over the years is impressive. But so are his other talents as an actor, composer and band leader. Granted, he isn’t the most graceful dancer, but who didn’t smile watching Connick’s wide-legged shimmies across the stage, thoroughly moved by the music, as he should be?
Connick, 45, is also a skilled entertainer and natural storyteller, abilities he utilized when sharing anecdotes about some family friends in the crowd and telling the close-to-sold-out audience about why he's most comfortable playing south of the Mason-Dixon line (Northerners, apparently, don't understand the appeal of etouffee ).
A highlight of a show that featured several meaty musical interludes steered by trombonist Lucien Barbarin and guitarist Jonathan Dubose Jr., came when Connick brought his dad, 87-year-old Harry Sr., onstage.
The elder Connick, who shares his son’s vocal style and sense of humor, is a former district attorney of Parish of Orleans and, years ago, a frequent presence as a singer in French Quarter clubs. He also has some Georgia ties, having attended Russell High School in East Point.
Harry Sr. worked his way beautifully through “Bye Bye Blackbird,” a standard popularized by everyone from Gene Austin to Paul McCartney on his most recent album, before his son joined him to duet on part of the song.
“That’s my pop, man!” Connick Jr. said, beaming, as his dad exited the stage.
A sweet moment for sure, and one that erased any crankiness that may have permeated the show because of spotty rain throughout the humid night.
While Connick, whose right heel never stopped tapping every time he sat behind his grand piano, played more for fellow music aficionados than casual fans with appropriately lengthy versions of “Oh! Didn’t He Ramble” and the Bing Crosby favorite “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams” (on which Connick played trumpet), he also didn’t neglect the songs that turned him into a big band heartthrob.
A medley of tunes from the “When Harry Met Sally” soundtrack thrilled the crowd (particularly “But Not for Me” and “It Had to Be You”), while his version of the 1936 swooner, “The Way You Look Tonight,” was especially dreamy.
Connick has blossomed into a Renaissance man, to be sure. But no matter how adept he becomes at his side careers, it is evident that music is what keeps his heart beating.
