Customer Reviews

20

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In 1988, Columbia Records took a chance on a kid from New Orleans named Harry Connick Jr. And very soon into the album you'll understand why. His blend of good ol' New Orleans jazz and ragtime in "Avalon", will make your jaw drop. His rendition of "Blue Skies" sounds like it is impossible to play but easily rolls off the keyboard. His carefree style is refreshing and relaxing. It gives you the same feeling as sitting on a porch or by the pool with a tall glass of lemonade on a hot, lazy afternoon. The third track, "Imagination", introduces us to the voice that drove crowds to the record stores to pick up "When Harry Met Sally".

One of the standout tunes on this album is "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans." On this tune Harry is joined by one of the greatest Creole musicians, Dr. John. Not only does the good doctor lend his singing talents to this piece, but he also gives a soulful organ solo.

For those of you who love Harry's big band sound, I'm warning you, you won't find it here. It's just Harry on piano joined by Robert Leslie Hurst III on bass. But even without the big band, this album is a winner. Pick up this album, sit back, relax and enjoy.

I like Harry Connick's big band work, and even some of his more experimental pieces, but this is essential Harry. I was born and raised near New Orleans, and good jazz and blues were standard fare for us growing up -- other people had nursery rhymes;we had Jelly Roll Morton. This album is vintage jazz/blues -- all you need to add is a smoke filled room and someone to snuggle with. It includes the classic "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" featuring the inimitable Dr. John, making this Crescent City favorite a standout piece. Mr Connick takes several standards, like "Avalon" and "Blue Skies" and makes them his own, using amazing piano work. His version of "If I Only Had a Brain" is almost tear jerking in its heartfelt halting phrasing, while "Imagination" is beautifully done -- you can hear the longing and insecurity in his voice. This is the album you want to slow dance to next to the fireplace with your one true love. If I were told I was going deaf next week, this would be the last album I would listen to, to imprint its rich and yet sparingly simple tunes on my memory.

I actually wrote this review in 2003, before Katrina. After the storm, pieces like "Basin Street Blues" and "Do You know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" mean even more than they did before. Many good albums have been recorded to benefit the city and its musical community; please purchase them and support a good cause. But please also listen to this album with a new understanding of what we as Americans (as well as the rest of the world) stand to loose if this city and its priceless musical heritage are lost. Vive la Nouvelle Orleans!

This is still one of my favorite albums from Harry Connick, Jr. My other favorites are Songs I Heard, We Are In Love, and When Harry Met Sally.

For me, Harry sounds best playing a New Orleans swing sound, rather than the fusion and guitar stuff on his later albums. Harry is at his best when he sounds more like Louis Prima or Louis Armstrong, two of my all time favorites for the genre. I wish he would recognize that he has a fan base that looks to him for this kind of music.

I recently saw Harry at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA, and he put on a great show, although he did linger a bit too much on some of the guitar based stuff. I can listen to anybody play guitar, but no one can play good jazz and make it swing like Harry - when he wants to!

This is a wonderful CD filled with new & classic songs. Harry is an amazing artist, and EVERY CD he records, from Funk to Jazz to Big Band, is fun, innovative and has style.

This remains my favorite Harry Connick, Jr., recording, even though he's done a lot of fantastic work since. The song selection, and his brilliant interpretations of the material are especially amazing, given that he was just a young pup of 20 when he recorded this. Songs like "Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?" and "Basin Street Blues" are as much a part of my home as the colorful streetscape outside of my window. He breathes freshness into other standards like "Blue Skies" and the peppy "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone." As a player and as a vocalist, Harry has an amazing sensitivity and maturity that hearkens back to the very greatest jazz masters--but he has a playfulness and sense of joy that brings the material to a whole new level. Enjoy!

this was my first "harry" album... and i loved it. I'm hooked. This has music from opposite ends of the spectrum. Slow, fast and everything in between. Definitely a must have....

Harry Connick Jr. is an old soul in a young man's body. He has a wonderful voice that can lull even the crankiest person into the melody. This is a great CD to have for background music at dinner parties or a quiet evening at home. I listen to it mostly in my car during my travels.

This is one of Harry Connick Jr's best albums...
if you were only going to get one, this is the one to get.
all great songs. in my opinion Harry sings way better than Frank Sinatra.
great, smooth jazz.

I got this album when I was 14, more than a decade ago, and is still one of my top 3 favorite albums ever. It is my desert island album.

Harry makes playing the piano sound easy, as if the music just happens when he waves his fingers over the keys. The lyrics pour out effortlessly, melting from despair and sorrow (If I only Had a Brain) to longing (Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans) to playful indifference (Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me). The man is simply a musical genius. And he did this when he was twenty!

This is classic old New Orleans - as if you wandered into a sleepy Bourbon Street bar after hours in 1940. Just thinking about it makes me woozy for a strong shoulder to rest my head against as we slowly sway across a small dance floor in a smokey club.

You don't even have to like jazz to love this album. After one listen, I bought everything else he had, then went through my dad's old Sinatra albums.

Buy this album or spend the rest of your days knowing you have no appreciation for the finer things in life.

This was a TERRIBLE cd. I bought it for my husband's birthday. It sounded like a 7-year-old beginning pianist was playing piano, and the singing wasn't much better. I am extremely disappointed in this purchase.