Harry Connick, Jr.’s music melts your heart in a wonderful way if you’re keyed up and in love.
It’s also perfect stuff to pop into your CD player if you’ve broken it off with that not-so-special someone and want to lament on your couch with a pint of chocolate ice cream.
Connick’s remakes of classic tunes like “A Wink and a Smile,” “A Nightengale Sang in Berkeley Square” and “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” are staples in the collection of any hopeless romantic.
Songs like “It Had to Be You,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” and “Our Love is Here to Stay” helped make Rob Reiner’s 1989 movie “When Harry Met Sally” a more-than-memorable classic, beyond Meg Ryan’s famous faked orgasm scene in a diner.
Connick’s collections of reinterpreted holiday classics further showcase his musical inventiveness.
Films in which Connick has appeared ? “Copycat,” “Little Man Tate,” “Independence Day” and “Hope Floats” to name a few ? have garnered him numerous critical compliments and a large following of fans.
To top it off, he’s still devastatingly handsome at the ripe old age of 30. What more could a girl want?
How about a date? Connick is coming to the Eastman Theatre Sunday at 3 p.m.
Connick’s liquid tenor will flow over the instrumental stylings of his Big Band here in Rochester as part of a tour that began only recently. This tour will take him to Toronto as well as to performance hotspots in the Eastern and middle United States.
Connick is touring to promote his two new albums ? “30” and “Songs I Heard,” simultaneously released Oct. 23 of this year ? as well as a Broadway show that opened Sept. 27 and a made-for-cable movie.
This guy embodies the well-rounded, multifaceted artist who gets paid ? lots ? to do what he loves.
Connick has been releasing musical recordings since he was 19. His jazz interpretations in the soundtrack to “When Harry Met Sally” acted as a springboard for his career, off of which he launched the extremely popular “We Are In Love” a year later. Since then, Connick has never lost his charm-driven inertia.
Growing up in New Orleans afforded Connick numerous musical opportunities. He studied piano with well-known musicians James Booker and Ellis Marsalis before graduating high school, at which point Connick moved to New York City.
Since then, Connick’s projects moved on to encompass much more than jazz piano and sultry singing.
His most recent movie, which co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker, is called “Life Without Dick” and made its debut Nov. 3 on the Encore Love Stories channel. In the movie, Connick plays a bumbling hit man in the Irish Mafia who dreams of becoming an Irish Tenor.
The opening of “Thou Shalt Not,” Susan Stroman’s brand-new Broadway show, marks Connick’s theatrical debut as a composer/lyricist/orchestrator. Connick’s score to this show, which is set in New Orleans, melds big band, funk and jazz beats and motives, as well as reinterpretations of American standards.
So, what’s one thing Connick probably won’t put on his agenda in the near future?
He probably won’t call either you or me to set up a real date, as Connick is married to former Victoria’s Secret model Jill Goodacre and has two little girls.
So, in order to get close to this incredible guy, you need to buy tickets to Sunday’s concert. I’d recommend calling Ticket Express sooner rather than later, because there’s a good chance it will sell out.
And, even if you can’t make it to his concert, you can be comforted by the fact that Connick’s career seems to be gaining momentum, not losing it. However, on Sunday I’m sure there will be magic abroad in the air.
Weiss can be reached at jweiss@campustimes.org.
