Other Hours Connick on Piano 1

With a career thats cast him as New Orleans jazz revivalist crooner Actor and Broadway composer its enough to make one ask Whos the real Harry Connick Jr Indeed this warm foray into neo-bop small ensemble instrumental jazz may only complicate the question If nothing else its genesis alone is compelling tribute to Connicks restless creativity and seeming resistance to pigeon-holing All the songs here were written for (though not all used in) Thou Shalt Not the musicians ambitious 2001 Broadway adaptation of Emile Zolas Therese Raquin that scored him a Tony nomination if not stellar box office success This low-key recasting only underscores the materials utilitarian strengths and gives Connick a chance to display chops as polished as they are playfully reverent to their inspirations Dumb Luck My Little World and What a Waste recall the angular adventures of Monk while the lyricism of Ned Goolds sax on Cant We Tell and How About Tonight points toward the best of Brubeck/Desmond Melancholy and low-key as it may be its an album that gently underscores the jazz piano stylist corner of his resume And if this is the fruit of Connicks Broadway failure we can only hope he stumbles so gracefully in the future --Jerry McCulley

Other Hours Connick on Piano 1