Harry for the Holidays

Christmas Day has come and gone and the New Year is now only a few days away. Still I do not think it wrong to make one more pitch for Yuletide music especially for tunes as special as those contained in Harry for the Holidays, the new album by Harry Connick, Jr.

Somewhere in between the Rat Pack and Michael Bublé, there was Connick, a goodlooking crooner who swings as well as the best of them. Raised in New Orleans, he studied to be a pianist and made a big splash by recording a jazz album when he was only 10 years old. He later made his successful transition to adulthood with his rendition of the standard It Had to be You in the multi-platinum selling soundtrack of the motion picture When Harry Met Sally.

And it is with similar songs that he continued to establish his reputation as an exemplary singer and musicians. Since then he has moved on to do other hit albums and act in the movies. Connick is considered a competent actor who excels in both leading man (Hope Floats) and character roles (Independence Day). He is also adept in comedy and can be seen in the sitcom Will and Grace on television.

Now Connick may not have been one of the hot guys in the hit charts these days. He is still somebody worth listening to though, more so these days, when there is a great deal of interest in the kind of music he makes. Besides, he has since returned to the hit lists with Harry for the Holidays, one of the most successful new releases of these past weeks. And swing hard is certainly what he does in the well-produced and vastly appealing album.

The multi-talented Connick not only sang the songs in this, his second Christmas collection, the first one was the big hit When My Heart Finds Christmas from 10 years ago. He also arranged, orchestrated and conducted the big band. He also played the piano for all of the 16 cuts. He does several of the standard Holiday tunes where is alternately playful, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is Coming to Town, rocking, Blue Christmas and Mary’s Boy Child, nostalgic The Christmas Waltz, I Wonder as I Wander, Silver Bells, and I’ll Be Home for Christmas, sexy, This Christmas or simply grandly elated over Christmas as in O Little Town of Bethlehem and Silent Night.

Harry also came up with three of his own original compositions for the album, the serious I Come with Love, about the ultimate sacrifice made by the Christ Child, the frolicky The Happy Elf and I’m Gonna Be the First One, two songs which may one day be the basis for a kiddie Christmas movie and Nothin’ New for New Year, where he duets with the legendary country music star George Jones.

Then in a unique turn, he has included his own version of Nature Boy, the Nat "King" Cole standard from the ’50s that was used to great effect in the movie musical Moulin Rouge. It may initially seem like a strange choice. Come to think of it though, the song talks about "a very strange enchanted boy," who wandered very far over land and sea, was very sad and very wise and who left the message that says, "The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." A boy with a message of love? Can you think of anything more Christmasy than that?

The top 20 Christmas sounds

And since we are on the subject of Christmas sounds, here then to close this piece is a list of the top 20 most popular Christmas songs of the century culled from various poll results. Traditional carols like Jingle Bells and Silent Night are excluded: White Christmas, Little Drummer Boy, Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Donde Esta Santa Claus, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Jingle Bell Rock, The Christmas Song, You’re All I Want for Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Little Christmas Tree, Here Comes Santa Claus, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, Blue Christmas, Merry Christmas Darling, Do You Hear What I Hear, Happy Christmas (War is Over), Do They Know It’s Christmas and The Chipmunk Song.