In Concert on Broadway

Part of WNET's Great Performances series on PBS, In Concert on Broadway features crooner/pianist Harry Connick, Jr. performing with big band and orchestra over two nights at the Neil Simon Theatre in New York City in July of 2010. Backing Connick here is a top-notch group of musicians featuring several well-known New Orleans performers, including trombonist Lucien Barbarin and trumpeter Mark Braud, who are featured. Although the album opens with his '90s hit "We Are in Love," Connick largely sticks to tracks off his 2009 album Your Songs. To this end, listeners get his take on the Latin classic "Besame Mucho" and the American popular song standard "All the Way," as well as the mid-album Frank Loesser medley "My Time of Day"/"I've Never Been in Love Before." Elsewhere, Connick delves into his own high-quality original material with "The Other Hours" from 2003's Other Hours: Connick on Piano, Vol. 1 as well as the midtempo swinger "Nowhere with Love" and title track from 1999's Come by Me. A longtime champion for his hometown of New Orleans, Connick closes out the album with several joyous Crescent City-themed cuts, including his own "Take Her to the Mardi Gras" as well as the traditional second-line song "Bourbon Street Parade." Joyous, urbane, and always charming, Connick is in perfect vocal form here and, of course, shows off his impeccable piano jazz chops throughout the album. In every way, In Concert on Broadway is a welcome showcase for Connick's traditional-meets-contemporary pop chops. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi