Better than some of his newer albums

Harry Connick is a very talented musician, be it with his piano playing, his original compositions, or his singing. It really is unfair when people compare his crooning style to Frank Sinatra as he does so much more. To my knowledge, I don’t think Mr. Sinatra ever wrote a song or played an instrument. This is not to disparage him. As a singer, I think Sinatra in his early to mid-years is superior to Mr. Connick. Unfortunately all that smoking did destroy his voice where he lost the range that he once had. He continued to be a good performer, and still had some expression, but the voice was definitely shot after the late 1960’s.

However, to Mr. Sinatra’s credit, there is nothing wrong with a singer/composer performing the works of others. In this album, Harry sings a lot of standards which is great. He also did that in the 2004 release of Only You, but this other album is better in certain ways.

There is definitely a personality and an upbeat tempo to this album which makes it very pleasant to listen to. Also, the orchestrations in some of Harry’s other albums tend to overpower the voice. This never happens with Sinatra wherein the voice is given the emphasis. Even during instrumental sections, the orchestra should not predominate.

We Are in Love and Recipe for Love are his own compositions. They have good melodies, lyrics are decent. The orchestrations are bright, there is nice brass but not overpowering. When he does some of the classic songs such as A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, It’s Alright With Me (a Cole Porter melody), he does even better. What is good about these two songs is that there is emotion in the performance, terrific melody/lyrics, and the orchestrations suit the performer.

If you liked the Only You album, you’ll definitely prefer this one. It is great that Harry is doing some experimentation with jazz, instrumental music and doing some creative things. Those albums can be mixed bags. However, this is one album of standards and his compositions that works together. His voice is more exuberant than that of a crooner in my book. When he tames that exuberance in both the singing as well as the orchestrations is when things turn out absolutely terrific for him.

Songs in the album are listed below:

We Are In Love
Only 'Cause I Don't Have You
Recipe For Love
Drifting
Forever, For Now
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
Heavenly
Just A Boy
I've Got A Great Idea
I'll Dream Of You Again
It's Alright With Me
Buried In Blue