Favie 3: Harry Connick, Jr. & N'Awlins Scene

For this edition of Favies, I will combine the legendary Harry Connick, Jr with the music scene of New Orleans.  In case you do not know, Harry Connick, Jr is from New Orleans.  If you ever watch a concert of his, you will notice that he always includes a taste of N'Awlins in his show.  Therefore, I thought that I could mix two of my Favies into one in this blog.

First, a bit about Harry Connick, Jr.  He is a music virtuoso.  He is a singer with an uncanny vocal range, an big band leader, a conductor, an orchestrator and arranger, and a multi-instrumentalist with at least piano, drums, and trombone in his arsenal.  His acting isn't so bad, either.  I will begin with a song that highlights him as an instrumentalist (most everyone knows his vocal skills).

This next video will give us a segue way into the New Orleans section of this blog.

Leroy Jones has his own band that plays around N'Awlins.  He was one of the original members of what is now known as the Rebirth Brass Band.  Craig Klein is one of the members of Bonerama.  Jess and I got a chance to watch them at the French Quarter Festival before we returned to Bosnia-Herzegovina.  It was a great show.

New Orleans music will always be one of a kind.  Once you learn the rhythm and the style of the brass instruments, you will forever have it seep into your soul.  I think a lot of you have experienced the soul of New Orleans music before.  I will use this next video to show you.

You gotta love that syncopated rhythm that flows through so much of the music of New Orleans.  Then, the way Zydeco makes the accordion cool.  Allow me to give you a taste of some New Orleans funk.

Let me give you a list of what New Orleans has produced:  jazz in general, Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, the Marsalis family (Ellis, Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo, and more), the Neville family (Aaron and the rest...they also brought us the Meters), Harry Connick, Jr, Dr. John, Better Than Ezra, Lenny Kravitz, Galactic, Trombone Shorty (who can switch seamlessly between trombone and trumpet), the brass bands (Rebirth, Dirty Dozen, New Orleans, Soul Rebels, Hot 8, etc) and so much more.  If you haven't heard of any of these people, check them out.