Occasion: Connick on Piano, Vol. 2

Occasion: Connick on Piano, Vol. 2

Editorial Reviews
<"b0009a1agy7499"> Amazon.com
This new recording by pianist/vocalist/actor Harry Connick recording on Branford Marsalis's label, is a delightful and diverse, thirteen track saxophone/piano duet. In this setting, these New Orleans homeboys display their dizzying interplay and invention with the kind of ease that can only come from years of friendship. Marsalis’s throaty tenor and silken soprano lines blend beautifully with Connick’s Errol Garner meets Thelonious Monk and Professor Longhair pianisms. On "Valentine’s Day" and "Virgoid" Connick’s left hand is steady, with a trace of the Latin tinge. It's beautifully contrasted by the the Broadway-type tunes, "I Like Love More" and "All Things." The pianist's performance on Marsalis’s "Steve Lacy" – an atmospheric elegy to the late sax giant – and the boppish title track -- proves that, to the contrary, familiarity breeds good jazz, not contempt. It also reminds us that there’s more to Connick than Independence Day, When Harry Met Sally, or Hope Floats. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

<"b0009a1agy4999"> Album Description
'Occasion,' the second volume of Marsalis Music's Connick on Piano series, presents Harry Connick, Jr. in one of the most challenging and spontaneous settings of his career - a series of duos featuring saxophonist Branford Marsalis. Like 'Other Hours,' the acclaimed first album in the series, 'Occasion' reminds us that Connick, who has also made his mark as a vocalist and actor, is at his core a commanding pianist and composer.