Harry Connick Jr.’s Cole Porter Album on Verve

courtesy of Play MPE

I have been listening to performances by Harry Connick Jr. on an occasional basis for about three decades. The sources of those occasions have primarily been radio and its streaming alternatives, primarily XM Radio and Music Choice. When I learned that the title of his latest album on Verve was True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter, my never-ending admiration for Porter got the better of me. I figured it was time to check out a full album.

Connick is literally all over the place on this album. While most of his work is vocal, he also takes a couple of solos at the piano. He also served as both arranger and orchestrator of all the tracks, as well as conductor of the Harry Connick Jr. Big Band. All this revives vivid memories of Oscar Levant’s dream sequence in the movie An American in Paris, in which he fantasizes himself as piano soloist, conductor, every member of the orchestra, and, as if that were not enough, a member of the audience shouting “Bravo!” at the conclusion of the performance.

To be fair, however, the instrumental backup is praiseworthy, evoking the best of the big band traditions; and Connick’s piano work tends to be well enough considered to draw the attention of more serious listeners. The vocal work, on the other hand, is another matter.

In the past I have enjoyed Connick’s relaxed style because he never tried to short-change either the tunes or the words. While his respect for the text (as well as an appreciation for vowel sonorities) is still, for the most part, intact, his respect for pitch is weaker than I recall from previous encounters. Porter could serve up some really daring intervallic leaps in his melody lines, and Connick does not always hit the mark when taking one of those leaps. Furthermore, when his arrangement calls for subtle modulation, his command of pitch sometimes muddles the distinction between source and destination. The fact is that Porter’s compositions demand more respect for pitch than Connick delivered, and that was a serious disappointment.

Equally problematic, but less disappointing, was the matter of choosing the words. My “bible” for Porter’s texts is The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter, edited by Robert Kimball. However, Kimball’s annotations make it clear that Porter himself would change the words for later performances of some of his songs.

The opening track, “Anything Goes,” is a perfect example. There are any number of references in the “Urtext” that could only be understood by consulting a variety of historical documents! Connick clearly does not want his album to be a research project. Therefore, he goes with versions that make sense to current listeners; and I, for one, feel that he deserves praise for making that decision.