Only You includes a few durable tunes that have lost none of their luster over the ensuing decades: “My Blue Heaven,” “I Only Have Eyes for You,” and “The Very Thought of You.” Unsurprisingly, Connick handles these with taste and enthusiasm -- again, songs of this grand tradition have long been the foundation of his art, and he knows how to put them across.
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Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Harry Connick, Jr. (vocals, conductor, piano); James Greene, Charles Goold (alto saxophone); Jerry Weldon, Mike Karn (tenor saxophone); Dave Schumacher (baritone saxophone); Roger Ingram, Derrick Gardner, Leroy Jones, Joe Magnarelli (trumpet); Mark Mullins, Joe Barati, Craig Klein, John Allred (trombone); Neal Caine (bass); Arthur latin II (drums); Paulinho Da Costa, Alex Acuna (percussion). | | Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California in 2003. | | Personnel: Harry Connick, Jr. (vocals, piano); George Doering (guitar); Bruce Dukov (violin, strings); Dennis Karmazyn (cello); Endre Granat (strings); James Greene, Charles "Ned" Goold (alto saxophone); Jerry Weldon, Jimmy Greene (tenor saxophone); David Schumacher (baritone saxophone); Derrick Gardner, Joe Magnarelli, Roger Ingram (trumpet); John Allred, Mark Mullins (trombone); Joe Barati (bass trombone); Arthur Latin (drums); Alex Acu¤a, Paulinho Da Costa (percussion). | | Audio Mixer: Gregg Rubin. | | Liner Note Author: Harry Connick, Jr. | | Recording information: Capitoal Studios, Hollywood, CA (05/13/2003-05/22/2003). | | Photographer: Palma Kolansky. | | Arranger: Harry Connick, Jr. | | In the liner notes of ONLY YOU, crooner Harry Connick tells how the impetus for the album was Columbia honcho Donny Ienner's request for the singer to record some songs from Ienner's youth (1950s/'60s hits). Whether this was an entreaty or an ultimatum, Connick sagely turned it to his advantage, inching up a decade or two from his usual selection process and cherry-picking some of the finest tunes from that era (even if a couple were originally written decades earlier). Connick breaks some new stylistic ground too, dipping into the country songbook ("You Don't Know Me") and even slipping into doo-wop territory ("I Only Have Eyes for You" and the title track"). | | The most impressive thing about ONLY YOU is that instead of twisting himself into a stylistic pretzel in order to accommodate these varied modes, Connick artfully reinvents these tunes (not only as vocalist, but as arranger/conductor) to suit his own Sinatra-influenced pop/jazz style. His treatment of the aforementioned "I Only Have Eyes for You," for example, brings out the inherent spectral qualities of the song, turning it into an ethereal tour de force for his moody arrangement and cool vocal. Throughout the album, Connick manages to turn such tricks consistently, proving himself an able interpreter of more than one chapter in the Great American Songbook. |
Producer: Tracey Freeman |
Engineer: Gregg Rubin |
Musical Guests | | Paulinho Da Costa | | Alex Acuna Y Su Acuarela De Tambores |
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