Harry Connick Jr. - Oh, My Nola
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Free Music Notes for Oh, My Nola
Free Music Review: An incredible CD
Hit: 5 Stars
This one and "She" are my favorite Harry Connick CDs, because they are so heartfelt.Free Music Review: A New Fan
Hit: 5 Stars
I had never listened to Harry Connick before this CD. I am now a huge fan.Free Music Review: gigi...Phila., pa
Hit: 5 Stars
husband loves it...this is only place i could find it at a great price...Free Music Review: Oh My Nola
Hit: 5 Stars
Great CD. Have it at work and listen to it often. Just Great Music.Free Music Review: "Nola:" Connick Jr's Abode of Warmth and Friendship
Hit: 4 Stars
Prime Cuts: Oh, My Nola, We Make a Lot of Love, Jambalaya
"Nola," abbreviated for New Orleans, LA, is Connick Jr.'s valentine to his hometown. Instead of brooding over the recent catastrophe, "Oh, My Nola" is imbued with a celebratory tenor that revels in the city's heritage, traditions, cultures and Connick Jr's ruminative memories of its people that have shaped his life. Always a mercurial artist never confined by genres, similarly this CD defies boundaries. Deserving of the highest accolade is that Connick Jr and producer Tracey Freeman give each of these 16 tracks a distinctive feel. From bluesy jams to funky folk to jazzy standards to French-tingled country, such sonic dexterity is beguiling to those with no ideological cards to play. In fact, the songs are just so diverse that each track has that surprising element that makes this disc so delightfully unpredictable and engagingly anticipatory.
Most fascinating is Connick Jr's choice of material: the more obvious in terms of its reference to the bayou and French Quarters is Hank Sr's "Jambalaya." Instead of carbon- copying the original's zydeco beat, Connick Jr summons a big band swing feel awash with a variegated tempo brought about by some newly orchestrated drum beats. Allan Toussaint's "Working in the Coal Mine," long associated with Nola, is an apt choice. Instead of dwelling on the beleaguered situation, this blue-collared anthem blisters with hope for the everyday folk. While the diurnal "Sheik of Araby" is a funky jazz number punctuated by some boisterous-sounding trumpets and the delightful dancing piano tingles. Album closer, "Do Dat Thing," a track that extols postmodern relativism, embraces the city's irony of sin and salvation evidenced by its risqué Mardi Gras and its sacrosanct Ash Wednesday's periwinkle.
Other choices are less obvious: some of which are included because they were family favorites. This includes big band-styled Mercer and Carmichael's "Lazy Bones," much loved by Connick Jr's mother and the traditional sounding "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey" a record his uncle loves spinning. Among the originals (of which there are 4), the best is the title cut, a ballad that brims with emotions as Connick Jr sings about the debt he owed to the city that gave birth to so many affirming memories. While Connick gets romantic on the mid-tempo "We Make A Lot of Love," a track that he wanted to include in his previous "Only You" CD. Augmented with a new verse, the oft-covered "Careless Love" conversely finds Connick Jr. in a bluesy mood as he loosens up emotionally over his frivolous paramour.
Perhaps the only drawback is that because the sentiments of this CD is so ingrained in his epistemology, at times Connick Jr tends to indulge too much in the song's sentiments. This makes some of the songs a tad too long and tedious. Further, for listeners not familiar with the French Quarters a few of these tracks may become too forebearing. Nevertheless, with such a quibble aside, this disc is truly a labor of love. With meticulous care each song has been chosen and behind each song languishes a story of hope, love, pain and memories. Like little children birthed out of a lifetime of love and commitment, these songs are like individuals waiting for us to befriend as our sonic companions for many years to come.