Occasion
This new recording by pianist/vocalist/actor Harry Connick recording onBranford Marsalis'slabel, 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’sErrol GarnermeetsThelonious MonkandProfessor Longhairpianisms. 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 thanIndependence Day,When Harry Met Sally, orHope Floats.--Eugene Holley, Jr.