An Evening With Harry Connick Jr. and Orchestra

Accomplished musician and actor Harry Connick Jr. and Orchestra perform Your Songs at DPAC on Tuesday, February 16, 2010.

Over the past two decades, Harry Connick, Jr. has taken a very hands-on approach to his recording career. 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 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”). ’Bésame 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.

Related Links

• Harry Connick Jr. Website