I’ve had Your Songs for about three weeks now. I’ve listened to it while working, driving around town, and making dinner. Any time I listen to a new Harry CD and he’s changed his style or is trying something new, it takes me a while to get on board and this CD is no exception. As I’ve listened to the CD, it’s grown on me. I’ve also realized why it’s not my favorite of his albums: a) he’s re-creating songs that were good to begin with and b) there’s not enough of Harry playing the piano. My favorite Harry Connick, Jr. albums are those that feature him playing piano or singing stand-bys from the early to mid-20th century. This album features a few of those stand-bys (e.g., All The Way and Mona Lisa) but not enough to suit me.

I can’t embed it here, but you can head over to Amazon.com and check out a behind-the-scenes video of what went in to making Your Songs. In that video you’ll see how Harry’s career has evolved from playing the piano and re-creating stand-bys to arranging and conducting full orchestral music. While I can certainly admire that talent, it’s not the talent I like to hear. I’m a creature of habit and I like Julia Roberts with long, curly hair; Meg Ryan before botox; and Harry Connick, Jr. when he’s playing original piano scores or singing standards.

I encourage you to head over to Amazon.com and listen to Harry Connick, Jr.’s new album before you buy the CD. Here’s the track list:

• All The Way (Frank Sinatra)
• Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel)
• Can’t Help Falling In Love With You (Elvis Presley)
• And I Love Her (The Beatles)
• (They Long To Be) Close To You (The Carpenters)
• Besame Mucho
• The Way You Look Tonight
• First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Roberta Flack)
• Your Song (Elton John)
• Some Enchanted Evening
• And I Love You So
• Who Can I Turn To? (Tony Bennett)
• Smile (Charlie Chaplin)
• Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole)

If you’re interested in finding Harry online, check out his the Harry Connick, Jr. web and Facebook pages.

Thank you to One2One Network for including me in this promotion.

Note: All links to Amazon.com are affiliate links. If you choose to buy something via one of my links, I’ll get a small percentage of the sale.

1. Habanera from Carmen (yes, the opera): I wish my voice were this beautiful. I also wish I could roll my Rs like that.
2. O Fortuna from Carmina Burana: I have been trying to figure out the name of this song so I could buy it for at least 10 years. I'm not kidding. I love it. It's very motivating, I think.
3. Que Sera, Sera by Janet Seidel: I proceeded to sing this to my children in a very melodic (not) and loud voice on the way to after school activities. They loved it (not).

And then I went and bought Gone Daddy Gone and Going On by Gnarls Barkley to get my groove back.