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(More customer reviews)There's a very interesting article from The Globe and Mail online that chronicles this, Harry Connick's first (and hopefully last) collaboration with mega-producer Clive Davis. Connick claims that the album was "the kind of...market-minded disc that [he] thought he'd never do, `not in a million years.'" Connick is quoted as saying that working with Davis at times left him "pissed" and "humiliated," and feeling "What am I doing, auditioning for this dude?" If there's proof positive that an artist of Connick's caliber should trust his own instincts, it's this seriously misguided collection of pop pablum.
The album starts with a fairly standard big-band arrangement of "All the Way," that clearly tells us we're in "When Harry Met Sally" territory. Which is fine, that's a place in which I'm more than happy to live. But what follows is dreadful: a cheesy version of Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" that turns this simple, Grammy-winning classic into the theme from "Love, American Style." And other tacky renditions of tacky songs follow: A hokey, bluegrass version of Elton John's "Your Song;" Easy Listening takes on Beatles and Burt Bacharach tunes; a lackluster, rinky dink "Can't Help Falling in Love With You" that made me want to sway and hold up a lighter. Wynton Marsalis' trumpet solos only reinforce that's it all very Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
I've always regarded Mr. Connick as an arbiter of good taste and classy jazz, neither of which he displays here. There are thousands of brilliant, moving standards out there, and instead we get...Don McLean's "And I Love Her So?" Really? Disheartening to say the least.
To be fair, not all the tracks misfire. The abum's last three, including "Who Can I Turn To?" (which I was expecting to go over the top) are actually restrained and heartfelt; and the Nelson Riddle type arrangement for "Besame Mucho" works quite well. That it's pretty much the same one employed for "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Some Enchanted Evening" speaks again to just how uninspired and cookie cutter this album feels and sounds.
I'm not sure how reproducing the Perry Como Songbook is keeping Mr. Connick relevant, but Clive Davis has a plan. He did, after all, bring Barry Manilow back from the dead, and got a Grammy for doing so. We can only hope he confines himself to producing, and doesn't introduce Connick to Mr. Manilow's plastic surgeon.
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Your Songs2009 album from the singer, pianist and actor, an album of cover versions of songs requested by his many fans. Like his best-selling Only You of 2004, Your Songs consists of Connick singing familiar songs with a full Jazz big band and string orchestra, and, as with nearly all of Harry's previous albums, he wrote each of the orchestrations himself. He also recruited two of his lifelong friends from New Orleans, Branford and Wynton Marsalis, as well as bluegrass guitar virtuoso Bryan Sutton, for guest appearances. 14 tracks including 'Mona Lisa', 'Smile', 'Just The Way You Are' and more.
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