Oh, My Nola
Fresh off his Broadway stint inThe Pajama Game,Harry Connick went back to his New Orleans roots and recorded a pair of albums in tribute to his hometown. Released the same day as the similarly themed but mostly instrumentalChanson du Vieux Carré,Oh, My Nolais a loose, effortlessly swinging album that ranks among Connick's best. He traces New Orleans' prodigious musical legacy with well-chosen covers peppered with some originals. Though he wrote only four tracks, at least one of them, "All These People," is a stand-out--a mid-tempo elegy about the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with a strong contribution from gospel great Kim Burrell. When it comes to the covers, Connick chose tracks that either originated in New Orleans or found particular resonance there. The funky, exuberant take on Allen Toussaint's classic "Working in a Coal Mine" that opens the CD reflects the flavor of things to come, but even more fun are the seemingly left-field picks--you'll never think of "Hello Dolly" the same way after listening to the version found here.--Elisabeth Vincentelli