-TheMichigan Daily - Friday, April 14, 1995 e ..a :"}'e~h~ 0f.Y; }.': ..:if::. :}:: } :J ::0f0" ::Y }},:t ';:' ::"":; : } "} ~i AL"i:}':t'.'' t}: :iLl .tti . :i :,"!'!!"1i::. Ct $O~i~fW Ql1:}J l i.. .VrSJZ All 5900 m Harry Connick, Jr. Gets Funky Dunky 0 By Jennifer Buckley Daily Arts Writer All right. Confess, cheesy movie fans. You all loved "When Harry Met Sally ..." You still laugh when you think of Meg Ryan's faked orgasm in the deli scene. And besides, your grandma really dug the tunes in the film's score, performed by an impos- sibly smooth-voiced young Frank Sinatra sound-alike named Harry Connick, Jr. Admit it. You sort ofdug the songs, too. That's OK, you weren't alone. Marc Shaiman's meticulous big-band arrangements and Connick's fresh, suave interpretations of such stan- dards as "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Where or When" and "It Had to Be You" enraptured many a movie fan, and the film's soundtrack went quickly multi-platinum. Five years, six more platinum- selling albums and three Grammys later, Connick surprised fans of his big-band style by releasing last year's "She," a laid-back, good-time mix of dance, funk, pop and jazz drawing extensively on the 26 year-old musician's New Orleans roots. Last June, Connick and anew five- piece band called Funky Dunky set out on tour to promote the new album. Earlier this month, they commenced a 21-date tour of college towns na- tionwide. "I thought it would be a lot of fun," said Connick of playing to college crowds. "The college kids have been buying the record, so we wanted to thank them for it." Connick noticed a much younger and more energetic crowd in atten- dance during their summer tour for "She." "It's been younger, for sure. My audience has been young all along, but before it had a lot of older people mixed into it, and I don't think this is music of their generation," Connick remarked. With "She," Connick risked alien- ating older fans grown accustomed to his impeccably cool stage persona, which often seemed as retro as his music. For this tour, though, Harry scrapped the dandyish duds and slicked-back hair in favor of a more relaxed, collegiate t-shirt and jeans. He insists that his new, hipper image and musical style is part of a natural and necessary progression. "I don't want to hurt any (fans') feel- HARRY CONNICK, JR. Where: Hill Auditorium When: 8 p.m. tomorrow Tickets are $20 and $25 in advance ings," he commented, "but they should realize that I have to do what I enjoy doing, and I will certainly return to (big band) at some point." And he certainly seems to enjoy himself on "She." Enlisting the aid of hometown R&B boys George Porter, Jr. on bass and drummer Joseph Modaliste, Connick mines New Or- leans-style jazz traditions on tracks like the instrumental "Funky Dunky" and employs slick R&B harmonies on "Between Us" while retaining his trademark lengthy piano solos and smooth tenor vocals. Genuinely rocking, bluesy elec- tric guitar solos add life to the single "(If I Could Only) Whisper Your Name" and "Honestly Now (Safety's Just Danger ... Out of Place)." Pro- ducer Tracey Freeman pushes Porter's propulsive bass to the front of the mix on the album's title track and its com- panion song, "She ... Blessed Be the Si Harry Connck Jr. Is a talented mucisian, even as a rock star. One." It's a significant departure from the big-band and popified jazz sounds that made Connick successful - and drew sharp criticism from jazz fans and critics. Especially harsh were re- views of his 1990 jazz trio effort, "Lofty's Roach Souffl6." Some jazz fans praised Connick for attracting new listeners who oth- erwise might have ignored jazz; crit- ics and hard-corejazz fans complained of the young musician's lack of real improvisation and complexity. Connick, who studied with Big Easy pianist James Booker as a teenager while also receiving classical piano training, ignores such criticism. "That stuff means nothing to me," he insisted. "I'm having agreat (time). I'm pretty indifferent to what (critics) have to say, let's put it that way." Despite such comments, Connick considers himself first a jazz pia- nist. To those who consider his hook- filled music too "pop," he offered, "Pop is just popular, and I like to be popular. But I'm a jazz musician who plays other kinds of music. But I do want to be popular, so I guess I'm kind of both (a pop musician and a jazz player). " Make no mistake, Harry Connick, Jr. is just out to have a good time, and he wants nothing more than for a whole mess of folks to come to his party. As he announces on "Here Comes the Parade," "Step aside / the groove's gonna take a ride." And while he plans to ride the funk-based groove of "She" for a while, Connick doesn't rule out re- turning to his earlier big-band sound. "This (new sound) is not progress at all! This is real simpleton music ... real easy. Hopefully, I'll get back to work at some point," he laughed. The current popularity of such big- band era artists as Tony Bennett pleases Connick to no end. "I think it's terrific that he's got this newfound interest in his career. I'm real happy for him. He's a good friend." And Connick wouldn't rule out appearing on MTV, as Bennett did with his "Unplugged" special, to bring his music to an even wider audience. "We're performers," he explained. "We don't care where we perform. We just want to (be onstage)." SKID ROW Continued from page 9 change a thing. That's the whole name of the game, and to debut at no. 35 (on the Billboard Top 200) in 1995 with long blond hair down to your ass is a fucking feat right there." (At this point he laughed and started singing "My Way") Speaking of regrets, has he had a few? "No, no," he quickly replied, then changed his mind. "Well, yeah, that t-shirt I wore. But I mean if you had a microscope on you and you were 19 years old and had a million bucks in your pocket and you were on TV every 20 sec- onds, you'd be getting in trouble too." Nineteen years old and an MTV sensation (think about that, fresh- men) to a 26 year-old father of two ... so are Skid Row still the "youth gone wild"? "If 26, 27 is still youth, yeah," he laughed. "I'll have to get the 'I was the ...' tattoo right on my upper bicep. But it's like Roger Daltrey, he sang 'My Generation.' The people in front of us are the youth, and we're still wild, that's good enough for us." 0I I U aa r/ IIi ATTENTION 1995 University of Michigan graduates and all students from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut! You are invited to attend a dinner to hear Joe Roberson, Ath- letic Director of the U. of M., speak at the U. of M. Club of Northern Jersey's annual meeting in Morristown,:"New Jersey on Friday, May 12, 1995. The meeting will kick off with a reception followed by dinner and our guest speaker, Joe Roberson. For the first twenty responses the cost of the dinner will be $15, $30 for all others. I i I want 15 vwpl to buy your computer WHEN: WHERE: Friday, May 7:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 12, 1995 Cocktail reception Dinner Speaker: Joe Roberson, Michigan Athletic Director Headquarters Plaza Hotel A TTPadauzrters P1272 a I r