Short Biography
AN EVENING WITH HARRY CONNICK, JR. & ORCHESTRA
Harry Connick, Jr, one of the today's most versatile and accomplished entertainers - pianist, singer, composer and bandleader - brings his many musical talents to Australia this March.
Connick and his orchestra will play Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, as well as an outdoor show at Perth's Kings Park.
Tickets on sale next Friday, January 29.
It will be two years since Harry Connick Jr. last toured Australia, following the release of Oh, My NOLA, music inspired by his hometown of New Orleans and a companion album of instrumentals by Connick's big band, Chanson d...
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Short Biography
AN EVENING WITH HARRY CONNICK, JR. & ORCHESTRA
Harry Connick, Jr, one of the today's most versatile and accomplished entertainers - pianist, singer, composer and bandleader - brings his many musical talents to Australia this March.
Connick and his orchestra will play Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, as well as an outdoor show at Perth's Kings Park.
Tickets on sale next Friday, January 29.
It will be two years since Harry Connick Jr. last toured Australia, following the release of Oh, My NOLA, music inspired by his hometown of New Orleans and a companion album of instrumentals by Connick's big band, Chanson du Vieux Carré.
"I was lucky enough to bear witness to a music aficionado, consummate performer and showman." Inpress
"Connick frolicked and hi-jinxed his way through a two-hour set like a kid at Christmas." Perth Now
Your Songs (Sony Music, 2009) is Connick's most recent release, offering his own fresh take on familiar, classic tunes such as The Carpenter's Close To You, Billy Joel's Just The Way You Are, Roberta Flack's First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and Nat King Cole's Mona Lisa.
Connick's illustrious career spans more than 30 years. He made his first public performance at age five, appeared on his first jazz recording at age ten and released his self-titled major label debut for Columbia Records at 19 - a year after his high school graduation and relocation to New York.
Connick has released 25 albums, sold more than 25 million albums worldwide and has been deservedly honoured with numerous award nominations and accolades including three Grammys and an Emmy.
Commercial breakthrough came for Connick in 1989 with his When Harry Met Sally film score, his first multi-platinum album. Best-selling masterpieces also include double-platinum success It Had To Be You (1991), Blue Light Red Light, Forever Now, triple-platinum She (1994) and the ballad collection Only You (2005).
Connick's talents extend beyond music, making his acting debut the World War II film in Memphis Belle (1990). Further credits include Copy Cat, Independence Day, P.S. I Love You plus the reoccurring character Dr. Leo Markus in Will & Grace.
Don't miss Harry Connick, Jr. and orchestra performing this March:
SYDNEY - OPERA HOUSE CONCERT HALL - MONDAY MARCH 22
PERTH - KINGS PARK - SATURDAY MARCH 27
TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY JANUARY 29
In-depth Biography
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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