UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 22, Page 1
March 2, 1995
Harry Connick Jr. & His Funk Band here April 27

     Harry Connick Jr. and His Funk Band will perform at 8 p.m.,
Thursday, April 27, at the Bob Carpenter Center, as part of a spring
college tour.
     Tickets for the show go on sale at 10 a.m., Friday, March 17, at
the box offices of the Perkins Student Center and the Bob Carpenter
Center, at Ticketmaster outlets and by phone through Ticketmaster,
telephone 984-2000. Tickets are $20 for the general public, $15 for UD
students with ID and $17.50 for UD faculty and staff with ID. A
convenience charge may apply.
     At the Delaware show, Connick will perform music solely from his
current album, She, for which he returned to his native New Orleans
and its incomparable musical legacy. Until then, Connick was loved
around the world for his brilliant take on swing, jazz, and big band
music.
     Produced by Tracey Freeman, with music by Connick and lyrics by
Ramsey McLean, She marks the first time he has recorded an album of
pure New Orleans music. Accompanied by his newly formed funk band,
Connick explores a variety of styles on the album, from funky rockin'
instrumentals to hushed ballads to esoteric recitations.
     She was cut in a converted New Orleans warehouse and used
strictly local musicians, some of whom Connick has known his whole
life.
     Music has been one of the constants in Connick's life from the
very beginning. His parents, both lawyers, co-owned a record store and
encouraged their son's musical interests. Before he was 10, Connick
made his recording debut with a local New Orleans jazz band.
     While working clubs in the French Quarter he studied piano and,
as a student at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, he won
several piano competitions and at one time played in a funk band with
Delfeayo Marsalis, who would later produce Connick's first Columbia
album.
     He moved to New York at age 18 to study music, first at Hunter
College and later at the Manhattan School of Music. George Butler,
vice president of jazz and progressive A&R at Columbia, signed
Connick, who recorded his self-titled debut in one direct-to-digital
session, with veteran bassist Ron Carter accompanying on 10
instrumentals.
     Critics praised the 19-year-old for his idiosyncratic style. As
his name began to spread among jazz circles, he became a top draw at
posh New York clubs, like the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel. His
extended stint there proved to be the hottest ticket in town. His
second album, 20, performed with a jazz trio, introduced audiences to
his magnificent voice.
     Director Rob Reiner asked Connick to contribute to his film When
Harry Met Sally, for which he sang several American classics. The
success of that film led to Connick's first platinum album. In
addition to using solo piano and trio, as with his first two albums,
When Harry Met Sally marked the first time he recorded with a big
band.
     His next two albums, Lofty's Roach Souffle and the platinum, big-
band We Are in Love released simultaneously in July 1990, reached the
top of the jazz charts and scored high on the pop charts as well. Both
featured Connick's own songs.
     Connick's home video, Singin' & Swingin', was released in 1990
and achieved gold status. That year, he made his acting debut in the
film Memphis Belle, and he made his Broadway debut, with an engagement
at the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre. He participated in a TV tribute to Frank
Sinatra, at which he sang "More." Later, he sang "Promise Me You'll
Remember," the Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated song from The
Godfather Part III, on the 1991 Oscar telecast.
     His first PBS special, taped live in concert for the Great
Performances series, resulted in a 1991 Emmy nomination for Best
Performance in a Variety Special. In February 1991, he earned a Best
Jazz Vocal Performance Grammy for We Are in Love, which he performed
live on the telecast.
     In all, Connick has five gold and three platinum albums and three
Grammys. In 1994, Connick married model Jill Goodacre.