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Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr.[1] (born September 11, 1967)[1] is an American singer, composer, actor, and television host. He has sold over 28 million albums worldwide.[2] Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 16 million in certified sales.[3] He has had seven top 20 US albums, and ten number-one US jazz albums, earning more number-one albums than any other artist in US jazz chart history.[4]
Connick's best-selling album in the United States is his Christmas album When My Heart Finds Christmas (1993). His highest-charting album is his release Only You (2004), which reached No. 5 in the US and No. 6 in Britain. He has won three Grammy Awards and two Emmy Awards. He played Grace Adler’s husband, Leo Markus, on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace from 2002 to 2006.
Connick began his acting career as a tail gunner in the World War II film Memphis Belle (1990). He played a serial killer in Copycat (1995), before being cast as a fighter pilot in the blockbuster Independence Day (1996). Connick's first role as a leading man was in Hope Floats (1998) with Sandra Bullock. His first thriller film since Copycat came in the film Basic (2003) with John Travolta. Additionally, he played a violent ex-husband in Bug, before two romantic comedies, P.S. I Love You (2007), and the leading man in New in Town (2009) with Renée Zellweger. In 2011, he appeared in the family film Dolphin Tale as Dr. Clay Haskett and in its 2014 sequel.
Connick's best-selling album in the United States is his Christmas album When My Heart Finds Christmas (1993). His highest-charting album is his release Only You (2004), which reached No. 5 in the US and No. 6 in Britain. He has won three Grammy Awards and two Emmy Awards. He played Grace Adler’s husband, Leo Markus, on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace from 2002 to 2006.
Connick began his acting career as a tail gunner in the World War II film Memphis Belle (1990). He played a serial killer in Copycat (1995), before being cast as a fighter pilot in the blockbuster Independence Day (1996). Connick's first role as a leading man was in Hope Floats (1998) with Sandra Bullock. His first thriller film since Copycat came in the film Basic (2003) with John Travolta. Additionally, he played a violent ex-husband in Bug, before two romantic comedies, P.S. I Love You (2007), and the leading man in New in Town (2009) with Renée Zellweger. In 2011, he appeared in the family film Dolphin Tale as Dr. Clay Haskett and in its 2014 sequel.
Harry Connick Jr. - Wikipedia
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Harry Connick Jr. - Mardi Gras in New Orleans
Music video by Harry Connick, Jr. performing Mardi Gras in New Orleans. (C) 2011 Sony Music Entertainment and Conn-X Productions, Inc.
Thank you my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that September 11 is the anniversary of the birth of American singer, composer, actor, and television host Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. who sold over 28 million albums worldwide.
Happy 51st birthday Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr.
Background from Harry Connick Jr. from his fan page harryconnickjr.com/about
"HARRY CONNICK JR
HAPPENING NOW…
HARRY CONNICK, JR. HAS EXEMPLIFIED EXCELLENCE IN EVERY ASPECT OF THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD. HE HAS RECEIVED RECOGNITION WITH MULTIPLE GRAMMY AND EMMY AWARDS AS WELL AS TONY NOMINATIONS FOR HIS LIVE AND RECORDED MUSICAL PERFORMANCES, HIS ACHIEVEMENTS ON SCREENS LARGE AND SMALL, AND HIS APPEARANCES ON BROADWAY AS BOTH AN ACTOR AND A COMPOSER.
In the fall of 2016 Connick launched “HARRY,” a nationally syndicated daytime television show. Back for a second season, “HARRY,” hosted by Connick and featuring his touring band, is an hour of uplifting television that celebrates women and delivers laughter and fun through a variety of comedic segments, talk, musical performances and lots of surprises. Drawing inspiration from family-friendly shows of the past, “HARRY” reflects the unparalleled entertainment skills of Harry Connick, Jr.’s varied career in music, film, television, and Broadway. “HARRY” also provides Connick with a platform to write, arrange and orchestrate music for his band on a daily basis, and to showcase the talents of his amazing musicians. The television industry recognized the debut season of “HARRY” with five Emmy nominations, including a nomination for best host. “HARRY” is a unique entertainment program for the new millennium aimed at entertaining the modern daytime television audience. Most recently, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce selected Harry Connick, Jr. to receive a star on their celebrated Hollywood Walk of Fame as part of their Class of 2018 Honorees.
HOW IT ALL STARTED…
The foundation of Harry’s art is the music of his native New Orleans, where he began performing as a pianist and vocalist at the age of five. He was schooled by two of the city’s keyboard legends – James Booker, who allowed a pre-teen Harry to sit at his elbow in local clubs, and Ellis Marsalis, who provided more structured instruction during Harry’s teenage years. When Harry left for New York at age 18, he was equipped with a precocious command of jazz and popular music styles.
HARRY’S CAREER TOOK OFF A YEAR LATER, WHEN HE SIGNED WITH COLUMBIA RECORDS AND REVEALED HIS STUNNING PIANO TECHNIQUE AND VIVID MUSICAL IMAGINATION ON HIS SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM.
In 1988, his follow-up album 20 announced that Harry was equally gifted as an interpreter of the Great American Songbook; but this was soon overshadowed by his multi-platinum success with When Harry Met Sally…, the soundtrack to the celebrated 1989 comedy by director Rob Reiner and Harry’s first performance with a big band. Harry so enjoyed the experience that he formed his own big band, which has been featured in recordings and live performances over the subsequent decades.
In the 90s, Harry became an on-screen presence in roles that found him working alongside a host of talented actors. Hailed as “poignant” in the character study Little Man Tate (directed by and starring Jodie Foster) and “scarily effective” as a killer in Copycat (with Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver), Harry further displayed his range as the romantic lead in Hope Floats (with Sandra Bullock), the action features Memphis Belle and Independence Day, and the improvisational The Simian Line. His voiceover skills were also featured in My Dog Skip and The Iron Giant.
THE DECADE ALSO SAW HARRY BUILD ON HIS EARLY MUSICAL SUCCESSES WHILE REVEALING NEW FACETS AS A COMPOSER AND BANDLEADER ON A SERIES OF BEST-SELLING ALBUMS.
His songwriting skills, first displayed on We are in Love and Blue Light,Red Light, extended to funk on She and Star Turtle, then reestablished a romantic focus on To See You. Lofty’s Roach Souffle, 25 and 30confirmed Harry’s ongoing prowess as a jazz pianist, while When My Heart Finds Christmas became one of the most successful holiday releases of all time, as well as the basis of Harry’s first Network television special. Come by Me, recorded with the big band Harry had led for a decade as well as a full orchestra, summed up the array of music at his command as the 90s ended, and held its place atop the Billboard charts for several months.
The new millennium brought more of the same, and then some. With his lead role in the ABC production of South Pacific, Harry began making his mark in the world of television. He quickly garnered a recurring role in the groundbreaking sitcom Will & Grace, starred in the Lifetime filmLiving Proof, and was featured in a four-episode sequence of the popular Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Harry brought his music to the small screen with a Harry for the Holidays Christmas special on NBC (based on his acclaimed second seasonal hit album), his Emmy-winning PBS specials Only You in Concert and Harry Connick, Jr. in Concert on Broadway, and the animated tale The Happy Elf, based on one of Harry’s original songs. Harry has become a go-to artist for important events including performances at Pope Benedict XVI’s Yankee Stadium mass, the NBA All-Star Game held in New Orleans (where he served as musical director), the National Anthem at Super Bowl XXVI and the 143rd Running of the Kentucky Derby.
THE CONNICK REALM ALSO EXPANDED TO INCLUDE BROADWAY, WHERE HARRY RECEIVED TONY NOMINATIONS AS BOTH COMPOSER/LYRICIST FOR THE MUSICAL THOU SHALT NOT AND AS THE LEAD IN THE TONY-WINNING REVIVAL OF THE PAJAMA GAME.
He has also adapted The Happy Elf for children’s theater, starred in the Broadway revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and—on the 20th anniversary of his first Broadway concerts at the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre—brought his live show for an extended residency at the Neil Simon Theatre, where the Emmy award-winning Harry Connick, Jr. In Concert On Broadway television special was filmed.
Harry continued to tour internationally with his big band, finding time when not making music to invent an interactive computerized sheet music system. He has also recorded more hit albums in a variety of settings. Harry revisited childhood favorites on Songs I Heard, romantic standards on Only You and more contemporary classics on Your Songs; placed his piano in intimate settings on the quartet collection Other Hours and Occasion, his duet with longtime friend Branford Marsalis; and reasserted his seasonal reign at Christmas with Harry for the Holidays and What A Night! A Christmas Album.
IN 2013, HARRY RETURNED HIS FOCUS TO ORIGINAL MUSIC WITH TWO ALBUMS OF COMPLEMENTARY MATERIAL. SMOKEY MARY, A LIMITED RELEASE CELEBRATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KREWE OF ORPHEUS THAT HARRY CO-FOUNDED, CAPTURES THE MARDI GRAS SPIRIT OF NEW ORLEANS AND ALL OF ITS CITIZENS AND CONTAINS NINE NEW CONNICK SONGS, WHILE ELEVEN MORE ARE INCLUDED ON EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW, A COLLECTION THAT TOUCHES ON SOME OF HARRY’S DEEPEST FEELINGS ABOUT LIFE AND LOVE.
That Would Be Me, Harry’s latest CD, was released in 2015 on Columbia Records. For the first time in 25 years, Connick took a step outside his musical comfort zone to work in the studio with two “external” producers on this album – the acclaimed Eg White (Sam Smith, Adele, Florence And The Machine) and Butch Walker (Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Pink, Weezer). That Would Be Me was recorded in London with White and Nashville with Walker. The result is a carefully crafted record full of surprises and stirring musical conjurations, delivering 11 new songs which continue to stretch boundaries and embracing the plain-spoken instincts that have guided him throughout his life. Additionally, the album art also represents a departure from his other covers, showcasing a portrait of his face created entirely from musical objects.
While Connick reserved the right to have final say on the end result, he found his voice coming through the record and enjoyed the collaborative nature of the process, a contrast to his 2013 album release, Every Man Should Know, which featured twelve original songs for which Connick wrote music, lyrics and arrangements.
Film projects during the period includes starring roles in Life without Dick (opposite Sarah Jessica Parker), Mickey (author John Grisham’s first original screenplay), Basic (with John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson), Bug (with Ashley Judd), P.S. I Love You (with Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler), New in Town (opposite Renee Zellweger) and the number one box-office hit Dolphin Tale (alongside Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd.
Amidst all of this activity, Harry has done some of his most important work in his efforts to help New Orleans rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. After he and Branford Marsalis were among the first to visit displaced residents in New Orleans and Houston, the two old friends conceived Musicians Village as a means to provide housing in the Upper Ninth Ward to musicians and other displaced citizens, then joined forces with New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity to make their dream a reality. To date, Musicians Village has provided homes for many of the city’s residents as well as a focal point for preserving and extending New Orleans’ creative heritage with the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. Two albums released in 2007 to draw attention to the devastation, the vocal collection Oh, My NOLA and its instrumental companion Chanson du Vieux Carre’, confirm that Harry remains one of the reigning masters of his hometown’s greatest gift to world culture.
HARRY’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE POST-KATRINA EFFORT HAVE BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED WITH A REDBOOK STRENGTH AND SPIRIT AWARD, AN HONORARY DEGREE FROM TULANE UNIVERSITY, A 2010 NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM HONOR AND THE 2012 JEFFERSON AWARD FOR PUBLIC SERVICE.
These and other honors, including three Grammy awards, two Emmy Awards, two Tony nominations, induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, sales of over 28 million albums and a slew of rave reviews have not led Harry Connick, Jr. to slow his creative pace; they only confirm his determination to apply his talents in ways that prove inspirational to other artists and publicly spirited citizens."
Harry Connick Jr. - Mardi Gras in New Orleans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uC1t897rGk
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Orlando Illi Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price CPT Jack Durish Capt Tom Brown CMSgt (Join to see) MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SGT (Join to see) Sgt Albert Castro SSG David Andrews Sgt Randy Wilber SGT Charles H. Hawes SGT Mark Halmrast PO1 William "Chip" Nagel CPT Gabe SnellLTC Greg Henning
Happy 51st birthday Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr.
Background from Harry Connick Jr. from his fan page harryconnickjr.com/about
"HARRY CONNICK JR
HAPPENING NOW…
HARRY CONNICK, JR. HAS EXEMPLIFIED EXCELLENCE IN EVERY ASPECT OF THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD. HE HAS RECEIVED RECOGNITION WITH MULTIPLE GRAMMY AND EMMY AWARDS AS WELL AS TONY NOMINATIONS FOR HIS LIVE AND RECORDED MUSICAL PERFORMANCES, HIS ACHIEVEMENTS ON SCREENS LARGE AND SMALL, AND HIS APPEARANCES ON BROADWAY AS BOTH AN ACTOR AND A COMPOSER.
In the fall of 2016 Connick launched “HARRY,” a nationally syndicated daytime television show. Back for a second season, “HARRY,” hosted by Connick and featuring his touring band, is an hour of uplifting television that celebrates women and delivers laughter and fun through a variety of comedic segments, talk, musical performances and lots of surprises. Drawing inspiration from family-friendly shows of the past, “HARRY” reflects the unparalleled entertainment skills of Harry Connick, Jr.’s varied career in music, film, television, and Broadway. “HARRY” also provides Connick with a platform to write, arrange and orchestrate music for his band on a daily basis, and to showcase the talents of his amazing musicians. The television industry recognized the debut season of “HARRY” with five Emmy nominations, including a nomination for best host. “HARRY” is a unique entertainment program for the new millennium aimed at entertaining the modern daytime television audience. Most recently, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce selected Harry Connick, Jr. to receive a star on their celebrated Hollywood Walk of Fame as part of their Class of 2018 Honorees.
HOW IT ALL STARTED…
The foundation of Harry’s art is the music of his native New Orleans, where he began performing as a pianist and vocalist at the age of five. He was schooled by two of the city’s keyboard legends – James Booker, who allowed a pre-teen Harry to sit at his elbow in local clubs, and Ellis Marsalis, who provided more structured instruction during Harry’s teenage years. When Harry left for New York at age 18, he was equipped with a precocious command of jazz and popular music styles.
HARRY’S CAREER TOOK OFF A YEAR LATER, WHEN HE SIGNED WITH COLUMBIA RECORDS AND REVEALED HIS STUNNING PIANO TECHNIQUE AND VIVID MUSICAL IMAGINATION ON HIS SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM.
In 1988, his follow-up album 20 announced that Harry was equally gifted as an interpreter of the Great American Songbook; but this was soon overshadowed by his multi-platinum success with When Harry Met Sally…, the soundtrack to the celebrated 1989 comedy by director Rob Reiner and Harry’s first performance with a big band. Harry so enjoyed the experience that he formed his own big band, which has been featured in recordings and live performances over the subsequent decades.
In the 90s, Harry became an on-screen presence in roles that found him working alongside a host of talented actors. Hailed as “poignant” in the character study Little Man Tate (directed by and starring Jodie Foster) and “scarily effective” as a killer in Copycat (with Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver), Harry further displayed his range as the romantic lead in Hope Floats (with Sandra Bullock), the action features Memphis Belle and Independence Day, and the improvisational The Simian Line. His voiceover skills were also featured in My Dog Skip and The Iron Giant.
THE DECADE ALSO SAW HARRY BUILD ON HIS EARLY MUSICAL SUCCESSES WHILE REVEALING NEW FACETS AS A COMPOSER AND BANDLEADER ON A SERIES OF BEST-SELLING ALBUMS.
His songwriting skills, first displayed on We are in Love and Blue Light,Red Light, extended to funk on She and Star Turtle, then reestablished a romantic focus on To See You. Lofty’s Roach Souffle, 25 and 30confirmed Harry’s ongoing prowess as a jazz pianist, while When My Heart Finds Christmas became one of the most successful holiday releases of all time, as well as the basis of Harry’s first Network television special. Come by Me, recorded with the big band Harry had led for a decade as well as a full orchestra, summed up the array of music at his command as the 90s ended, and held its place atop the Billboard charts for several months.
The new millennium brought more of the same, and then some. With his lead role in the ABC production of South Pacific, Harry began making his mark in the world of television. He quickly garnered a recurring role in the groundbreaking sitcom Will & Grace, starred in the Lifetime filmLiving Proof, and was featured in a four-episode sequence of the popular Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Harry brought his music to the small screen with a Harry for the Holidays Christmas special on NBC (based on his acclaimed second seasonal hit album), his Emmy-winning PBS specials Only You in Concert and Harry Connick, Jr. in Concert on Broadway, and the animated tale The Happy Elf, based on one of Harry’s original songs. Harry has become a go-to artist for important events including performances at Pope Benedict XVI’s Yankee Stadium mass, the NBA All-Star Game held in New Orleans (where he served as musical director), the National Anthem at Super Bowl XXVI and the 143rd Running of the Kentucky Derby.
THE CONNICK REALM ALSO EXPANDED TO INCLUDE BROADWAY, WHERE HARRY RECEIVED TONY NOMINATIONS AS BOTH COMPOSER/LYRICIST FOR THE MUSICAL THOU SHALT NOT AND AS THE LEAD IN THE TONY-WINNING REVIVAL OF THE PAJAMA GAME.
He has also adapted The Happy Elf for children’s theater, starred in the Broadway revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and—on the 20th anniversary of his first Broadway concerts at the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre—brought his live show for an extended residency at the Neil Simon Theatre, where the Emmy award-winning Harry Connick, Jr. In Concert On Broadway television special was filmed.
Harry continued to tour internationally with his big band, finding time when not making music to invent an interactive computerized sheet music system. He has also recorded more hit albums in a variety of settings. Harry revisited childhood favorites on Songs I Heard, romantic standards on Only You and more contemporary classics on Your Songs; placed his piano in intimate settings on the quartet collection Other Hours and Occasion, his duet with longtime friend Branford Marsalis; and reasserted his seasonal reign at Christmas with Harry for the Holidays and What A Night! A Christmas Album.
IN 2013, HARRY RETURNED HIS FOCUS TO ORIGINAL MUSIC WITH TWO ALBUMS OF COMPLEMENTARY MATERIAL. SMOKEY MARY, A LIMITED RELEASE CELEBRATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KREWE OF ORPHEUS THAT HARRY CO-FOUNDED, CAPTURES THE MARDI GRAS SPIRIT OF NEW ORLEANS AND ALL OF ITS CITIZENS AND CONTAINS NINE NEW CONNICK SONGS, WHILE ELEVEN MORE ARE INCLUDED ON EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW, A COLLECTION THAT TOUCHES ON SOME OF HARRY’S DEEPEST FEELINGS ABOUT LIFE AND LOVE.
That Would Be Me, Harry’s latest CD, was released in 2015 on Columbia Records. For the first time in 25 years, Connick took a step outside his musical comfort zone to work in the studio with two “external” producers on this album – the acclaimed Eg White (Sam Smith, Adele, Florence And The Machine) and Butch Walker (Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Pink, Weezer). That Would Be Me was recorded in London with White and Nashville with Walker. The result is a carefully crafted record full of surprises and stirring musical conjurations, delivering 11 new songs which continue to stretch boundaries and embracing the plain-spoken instincts that have guided him throughout his life. Additionally, the album art also represents a departure from his other covers, showcasing a portrait of his face created entirely from musical objects.
While Connick reserved the right to have final say on the end result, he found his voice coming through the record and enjoyed the collaborative nature of the process, a contrast to his 2013 album release, Every Man Should Know, which featured twelve original songs for which Connick wrote music, lyrics and arrangements.
Film projects during the period includes starring roles in Life without Dick (opposite Sarah Jessica Parker), Mickey (author John Grisham’s first original screenplay), Basic (with John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson), Bug (with Ashley Judd), P.S. I Love You (with Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler), New in Town (opposite Renee Zellweger) and the number one box-office hit Dolphin Tale (alongside Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd.
Amidst all of this activity, Harry has done some of his most important work in his efforts to help New Orleans rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. After he and Branford Marsalis were among the first to visit displaced residents in New Orleans and Houston, the two old friends conceived Musicians Village as a means to provide housing in the Upper Ninth Ward to musicians and other displaced citizens, then joined forces with New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity to make their dream a reality. To date, Musicians Village has provided homes for many of the city’s residents as well as a focal point for preserving and extending New Orleans’ creative heritage with the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. Two albums released in 2007 to draw attention to the devastation, the vocal collection Oh, My NOLA and its instrumental companion Chanson du Vieux Carre’, confirm that Harry remains one of the reigning masters of his hometown’s greatest gift to world culture.
HARRY’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE POST-KATRINA EFFORT HAVE BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED WITH A REDBOOK STRENGTH AND SPIRIT AWARD, AN HONORARY DEGREE FROM TULANE UNIVERSITY, A 2010 NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM HONOR AND THE 2012 JEFFERSON AWARD FOR PUBLIC SERVICE.
These and other honors, including three Grammy awards, two Emmy Awards, two Tony nominations, induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, sales of over 28 million albums and a slew of rave reviews have not led Harry Connick, Jr. to slow his creative pace; they only confirm his determination to apply his talents in ways that prove inspirational to other artists and publicly spirited citizens."
Harry Connick Jr. - Mardi Gras in New Orleans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uC1t897rGk
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Orlando Illi Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price CPT Jack Durish Capt Tom Brown CMSgt (Join to see) MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SGT (Join to see) Sgt Albert Castro SSG David Andrews Sgt Randy Wilber SGT Charles H. Hawes SGT Mark Halmrast PO1 William "Chip" Nagel CPT Gabe SnellLTC Greg Henning
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