Harry Connick Jr. at MO Bar

Every now and then Sony Music holds intimate jam sessions at the Mo Bar in The Landmark Mandarin. Last Tuesday, Crooner Harry Connick Jr. who has released 24 albums under his own name and has sold 25 million copies internationally, did a small set from his new album- Your Songs. Your songs was produced by legendary producer Clive Davis who was recently was promoted to Chief Creative Officer at Sony Music Entertainment after heading the BMG Label Group. Anyway, I had a huge crush on Harry back in the 90’s when he had his big hit ‘Recipe for making Love’.

Harry, who is 42, has also starred in a bunch of films, most of them being romantic comedies (no surprise there!). Check out his filmography on IMDB. Here’s the trailer for his most recent rom-com movie with Renee Zellweger.

He’s currently married to Jill Goodacre, a cat-like Victoria’s Secret model, and has three kids with her.

Anyway, call me an old fart, but I was really excited to go see him even though I only really like ‘rat pack’ music under certain circumstances. At the Mo Bar, I ran into actor/singer Michael Wong who is performing very similar type of music in Hong Kong. I saw him perform not too long ago at JJ’s for a fundraiser. The rest of the crowd consisted of Sony executives, people in the media and friends of the Mandarin.

It was a very adult and civilized jam session. The host briefly interviewed Harry and asked him about his new album. Harry talked for quite some time about art and how he tries not to think about the original versions of the songs he covers. He always tries to inject his own style into the previously recorded song. It was a challenge to do something new, he claimed, when he had to record in the same studio- using the same piano- as Nat King Cole to remake one of Nat Cole’s songs. He also said when it comes to 'art' don’t always try to do things from your own experience because you get trapped. One person has never experienced all emotions so it’s better to sometimes step out of what you know and get out of your comfort zone to be a better artist. This was perhaps something he learned as an actor.

Harry went on to sing classics like “Close to You”, “Mona Lisa” and “The Way You look Tonite” It was really beautiful but I got the feeling like I was puttering around on a golf course when I what I really wanted to be doing was going base-jumping off a cliff somewhere. I guess I’m more of an indie rocker as opposed to an easy-listening gal.

 
See all the photos and video from the show here:
http://hiphongkong.com/galleries/party_photos/harry_connick_jr_mo_bar

Anyway, after the show, I got to talking to the bassist and I ended up taking him around to a few of the live music venues in town. We tried to go to Soiree and Melting Pot but they were closed by the time we got there so we went to Peel Fresco for a while.

Tuesday night is open mike night so there were a lot of local musos jamming. Afterwards we went over to Danny Diaz’s private bar on Wyndham street called The Skylark Lounge. Danny is a legend. He plays 7 instruments, is also a stand up comedian and is such a great singer he always sends chills down my spine.

There was some show tunes rehearsal going on and we walked in just in time to hear Seasons of Love from the Broadway play “Rent’ (possibly one of my favorite showtunes of all time).

For those of you interested in Live Music in Hong Kong- there are actually loads of places to see live jams. Here’s a complete list of live music venues in Hong Kong:
http://hiphongkong.com/drink/bars/nightclubs/live_music

My favorite places include the ones mentioned above as well as The Cavern, Backstage, Senses 99. Check them out!
 

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