My Review of Harry Connick Jr.'s 'Oh,My Nola'

 Harry Connick Jr.’s ‘Oh, My Nola’  on Columbia (Sony BMG Music and  Entertainment)

Let me preface this with a disclaimer… I am not a musician and don’t pretend to be an expert on any Genre of music But I am lover of most forms of modern music (meaning 20^th and 21^st century)… except Opera and certain types of Jazz. Having said that I was delighted to have the chance to review one of Harry Connick Jr.’s CD’s. I am a great fan of New Orleans style Jazz and blues so this CD was right up my alley! This is Harry’s tribute to the jazz heritage of New Orleans and some of her late performers. It’s a well presented catalogue of New Orleans style music, including offerings from

Louis Armstrong, to a cover of Hank William’s ‘Jambalaya’. Unfortunately as the CD I have is a pre-release sample it has no liner notes so I’m winging it when it comes to the credits and other contributing artists on the CD.

Some of the standards that he includes are ‘Hello Dolly’, ‘Bill Bailey’ and

‘Careless Love’. Then there are some that I had never really associated with New Orleans, such as ‘Working in a Coal Mine’ and ‘Sheik of Araby’. This CD has a good variety of rhythms, from the blues ballad style of ‘Let Them Talk’, to the swing rhythm of

‘Working in a Coal Mine’ and second line rhythms in ‘Yes We Can Can’.

All in all this is a good showcase of Connick’s piano style and vocal range. If you’re looking for original offerings the only one I noted ( and am halfway certain of) was

‘All Them People’ which seemed like an oblique reference to Katrina’s devastation of his beloved New Orleans.

For lovers of New Orleans style music and ‘smooth jazz’ this will be a good addition to their CD collections, and for those who don’t yet own a Harry Connick Jr. CD this is a good one to start with.