When I’m acting, I’m in a different place, singing is the last thing on my mind, and when I’m on stage, there’s no acting at all involved, not even presentation, it’s just who I am. – Harry Connick, Jr.
The whole ‘American Idol’ way of looking at things is the antithesis of what I grew up with. There are a whole lot of kids wanting to be famous now, whereas if I’d even mentioned that word to one of my teachers, I would have got into a whole load of trouble. – Harry Connick, Jr.
When I did the album for ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ I found myself out there in front of this big band, which I had no idea how to do, and they wiped the floor with me. It’s a very specific skill, and I didn’t know how to do it. – Harry Connick, Jr.
It is jazz music that called me to be a musician and I have always sang the songs that moved me the most. Singers, like Frank Sinatra and myself, we interpret the songs that we like. Not unlike a Shakespearean actor that goes back to the greatest words ever written, we go back to the greatest songs. – Harry Connick, Jr.
I’ve learned that people latch onto labels and stereotypes. There was a period when I was asked in every single interview how I liked being the new Frank Sinatra… I think people will soon realize that I do a lot more than interpret old songs. – Harry Connick, Jr.
A lot of the music that you listen to now is because of the things that the Meters did, the Neville Brothers did, and they’re there, the guys who invented those beats that the guys sample today. Such an enormous opportunity. – Harry Connick, Jr.
I was raised in the environment where it really wasn’t about sittin’ around dreaming all the time, it was about practicing and workin’ really hard and if a dream ever came to you, you’d be prepared for that opportunity. – Harry Connick, Jr.
I only tour in short bursts, I’m only ever away from my family and three daughters for a month or two. – Harry Connick, Jr.
You know, I feel as comfortable in an uncomfortable situation as I do when things are going smoothly. – Harry Connick, Jr.
I don’t really find girls to be any more dramatic or delicate than boys; I’ve known plenty of little boys who’ve had miserable breakdowns over things… in fact, I was one of them! – Harry Connick, Jr.
I always laugh at these rock n’rollers where you can’t understand them. Mind you, it’s not because they’re inaudible or indistinguishable; it’s because they’re too obscure. – Harry Connick, Jr.
I used to go to Bourbon Street when I was a kid and there would be club after club after club of people who were around when the music started. I mean these are legendary, maybe not so well known, but legendary musicians. – Harry Connick, Jr.
If you can say the lyrics almost like a poem and they stand up, that’s a great thing. Some songs have great lyrics and I don’t like the melodies, and vice versa. – Harry Connick, Jr.
We would like to get to a point in our society where people really are colorblind and this message would not have to be told anymore. Unfortunately, we’re not there yet. – Harry Connick, Jr.
Before I had kids I’d go out on the road for months and months at a time, but now I don’t think I’d want to do that anymore, because I’d miss too much time at home, so it’s just a matter of monitoring how much work that I do and how much time I’m on the road. – Harry Connick, Jr.
I’m not trying to be romantic. I think you can tell when people are trying to be sexy onstage. When I was doing ‘All the Way,’ I was really thinking about my wife. People don’t know my personal experience, but they can tell it’s an honest interpretation. – Harry Connick, Jr.
There’s an album by Antonio Carlos Jobim – the album with ‘The Girl From Ipanema.’ That’s the most seductive music ever. – Harry Connick, Jr.
‘The Christmas Song,’ by Nat King Cole, is not only a masterful performance; to me it just sounds like the holidays. I’ve never sung it, because Nat’s version is so perfect. I gotta leave it alone. – Harry Connick, Jr.
Golf is good, it means I get some fresh air and exercise, take my mind off work and see some of the landscape of the place I’m visiting. – Harry Connick, Jr.
