It’s almost obligatory for a critic to mention Frank Sinatra when reviewing anything by Harry Connick, Jr., and though I’ve always tried to avoid doing so at all costs, the extreme similiarity of their voices makes it nearly impossible. When I first heard that Harry was releasing an album of standards from the fifties and sixties, the heyday of The Chairman’s career, I cringed, knowing that the resulting album could make for a tough review.

I’ve had Harry’s new album, Only You, for a couple months now, and I’ve held off on my review to give Harry’s arrangements time to really sink into my brain in the hope that I could be able to adequately explain the CD without making inevitable comparisons. However, Harry has never sounded more like Frank than he does on this record. As always, this is not a bad thing, but in a recording full of material from Sinatra’s era, it could be very distracting, or even disastrous (right, Rod Stewart?). Thankfully, Connick is a highly skilled, thoroughly competent musical craftsman, and he manages to avoid disaster

The saving grace of Only You is that, unlike all the other retro – tribute – songbook – try to stretch my career out recordings that have come out in the past few years, this recording was arranged and orchestrated by none other than Harry Connick, Jr. As well as being a great singer and pianist, Harry is a gifted arranger and he brings his usual slow jazz style to the production of this album. Most of this album is S L O W – it’s hard to maintain intensity of sound when you play any song much slower than was originally intended, but Harry gets the most out of his orchestra by arranging the songs with the right mix of instruments, by paying attention to details in the percussion, by placing solos in the right places, and stopping for the occasional Connick piano noodling.

Harry likes to take his time developing a song; he’s really good at slowing down a tune to allow for some jazzy exploration of the melodic theme. In the standards presented here, Harry really stretches the songs out, giving him plenty of opportunity to croon in his slow, sloppy New Orleans style. He made a good decision by bringing in the other members of his Harry Connick Trio to form the core of this orchestra – Neal Caine on bass, and Arthur Latin, II on drums. These two have been with Harry a long time, and they bring an instinctive feel for what Harry wants to this album.

Some highlights from Only You:
My Blue Heaven - relying on Latin percussion and guitar and lazy strings, the song takes on an almost tropical feel. You can easily picture Harry at a Copacabana, sitting at a piano, singing the song to the lovely “Jilly” (his wife, model Jill Goodacre – some guys have all the luck)

You Don’t Know Me - Harry minimizes this one to recapture the sound of his fabulous jazz album 20, the only difference being the addition of a string section for the bridge.

For Once In My Life - my favorite track on the album. This one starts with a bouncy string section, recalling instantly the music of Sleepless In Seattle. The song is slowed down from it's normal tempo, and when Harry starts singing, the bass kicks in too, sounding for all the world like a hip-hop bass track (even though it’s a simple two beat pattern, it still sounds like Harry’s bumpin’ down the road in a tricked out El Camino). It’s a playful version, never going anywhere near the usual over-the-top arrangements that others have used for this song.

It’s very likely that one’s opinions of Only You will be driven primarily by one’s generation – Harry created this album at the request of the president of his record label. Donnie Jenner asked if Harry would consider recording songs from ‘his generation’, an era that Connick hadn’t considered up to that point. The results are definitely geared to the post war baby boomers, those who cut their musical teeth on dance bands and Rat Pack records. Of course, there’s the fact that this sort of music is très romantique… this would be a good album to keep handy for those special evenings spent slow dancing with that special someone.

If you’re looking for a smooth retro sound from a polished vocalist leading his orchestra, then Only You is perfect for you. If you’re a Connick fan looking for nifty jazz arrangements featuring some uptempo swing, then Connick’s We Are In Love is what you are looking for.

There is a third option available if you want to explore these songs even further – Harry recently released a concert DVD, recorded in January 2004, entitled Only You in Concert - it's much of the same material from the Only You CD but it works much better in the concert setting.

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Harry Connick, Jr. – Only You (CD)
Originally released February 3, 2004 by Columbia Records/Sony Music Enterntainment
Track Listing
More / The Very Thought Of You / Save The Last Dance For Me / My Blue Heaven / You Don’t Know Me / All These Things / For Once In My Life / Only You / My Prayer / Other Hours / I Only Have Eyes For You / Good Night My Love (Pleasant Dreams)
All songs arranged and orchestrated by Harry Connick, Jr.
Features the Harry Connick Trio –
Harry Connick, Jr. – piano and vocals
Neal Caine – Bass
Arthur Latin, II - Drums

My Other Harry Connick, Jr. reviews:
20
We Are In Love
Songs I Heard
Only You in Concert(DVD)



Recommended: Yes