Studio Masters

Harry Connick, Jr. – Every Man Should Know (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 45:35 minutes | 937 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia

Harry Connick, Jr.’s 2013 studio album Every Man Should Know finds the New Orleans native delving into a handful of original songs that touch upon country, pop, and R&B, with only a few jazz-oriented cuts in the mix. Connick has gone in the original pop direction before with mixed results, on 1994’s R&B-infused She and 1995’s soulful Star Turtle, as well as on the second line funk-centric Smokey Mary, which came out earlier in 2013. While those albums showcased Connick’s long-avowed love of artists like Stevie Wonder and Dr. John, they lacked chemistry, and couldn’t compare to his more swinging, jazz-oriented releases. With Every Man Should Know, Connick attempts yet another foray into the world of the contemporary singer/songwriter, focusing less on funk and more on a gospel and country-inflected sound. On paper, the idea make sense, as Connick’s New Orleans stride, blues, and jazz piano chops appear at first to be a good match for this kind of cross-genre pollination. In some ways, Connick is successful here; tracks like the title song and the bluesy, minor-key “One Fine Thing” are compelling and very Carole King meets Van Morrison-esque, framing Connick’s big croon, sincere lyrics, and deft piano with some urbane orchestral flourishes. Equally effective is the yearning Latin jazz number “I Love Her,” in which Connick lovingly evinces the lush and romantic ’60s bossa nova recordings of Stan Getz and João Gilberto, replete with string and flute backgrounds. However, despite the positive aspects of these songs in particular, Connick is anything but a rootsy singer/songwriter, and while he’s certainly earnest in his endeavors, he still sound awkward and contrived here, and is undeniably at his best when working in a jazz or traditional pop vein. Even when he leans toward the roiling barroom funk of Dr. John, as he does on cuts like “Friend (Goin’ Home)” and the soulful, organ-driven gospel of “You’ve Got It,” he comes off more like an American Idol version of the down-home vibe he’s going for. He fares much better when skewing toward his ’90s jazz approach, as he does on the laid-back “Being Alone” and the New Orleans second line-inspired “S’pposed to Be,” featuring trumpeters Wynton Marsalis and Leroy Jones, respectively. These tracks leap out from the rest with a buoyant, lighthearted energy, and while they don’t completely make up for the subpar nature of the album’s less impressive tracks, they do manage to make Every Man Should Know a record with something for every Connick fan. ~ Matt Collar

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Harry Connick Jr. – True Love: A Celebration Of Cole Porter (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 50:35 minutes | 1,62 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Harry Connick Jr

Following his foray into the uber-contemporary pop production of 2015’s That Would Be Me, Harry Connick, Jr. returns to his swinging big-band sound with 2019’s True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter. The singer’s first album since signing with the storied Verve label, True Love is also his first extended exploration of a single composer’s work. A burnished set of Porter standards, the album brings to mind Connick’s late-’80s and early-’90s work, especially We Are in Love, Blue Light, Red Light, and his beloved soundtrack to When Harry Met Sally. Helping to capture this energy is Connick’s big band, featuring seasoned players like bassist Neal Caine, New Orleans trumpeter Mark Braud, saxophonist Bob Sheppard, and others. On some tracks, he even brings in a full orchestra, creating a sound that evokes classic albums by his heroes Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. The best moments on the album are the punchy, midtempo swingers like “Anything Goes,” “Just One of Those Things,” and the buoyant “I Love Paris,” all of which showcase Connick’s vocal charisma and his band’s dynamic instrumental skills. The latter song also includes a bluesy solo by New Orleans trombonist Lucien Barbarin, who also guests on a roiling and sultry rendition of “Why Can’t You Behave.” It’s also nice to hear Connick take his turn at the piano, soloing several times on the album and offering an extended Cuba-meets-New Orleans bar-style intro to “Begin the Beguine.” This is a lush, languorously paced album, but it never drags; even the slower songs benefit from bluesy instrumental solos and Connick’s richly attenuated arrangements. True to Porter’s urbane image, Connick offers an album as romantic as it is sophisticated. ~ Matt Collar

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Harry Connick Jr. – Alone With My Faith (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 57:43 minutes | 1,02 GB | Genre: Jazz, Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Harry Connick Jr – LP2

Like many people, Harry Connick Jr found the pandemic to be a deeply reflective period. With tour dates canceled, the Grammy and Emmy Award-winning artist took comfort in his home studio, where he wrote and arranged a selection of spiritual songs – performing every instrument and singing all vocal parts. The result was a new album, aptly-titled Alone With My Faith, available now via Verve/Capitol CMG.

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