Come By Me

Japanese version of his 1999 big band album featuring a bonus track: 'St. James Infirmary Blues/Just A Closer Walk With Thee'.

People first smitten with Harry Connick Jr. due to his easy, timeless charm and swoon-worthy croon on the 1989 soundtrack When Harry Met Sally are in for a big treat. Come by Me, a delightful sequence of treasures both old and new, is Connick's first big-band record since 1991's Blue Light, Red Light. What's not to like? With equal precision and confidence, Connick and his 16-piece band (and at times a full symphony orchestra) move seamlessly between the boisterous self-penned title cut, the Mancini standard "Charade," and the Cole Porter gem "Love for Sale." He gives a straight and moving voice and piano take on "Danny Boy," a stepped-up freshness to "There's No Business Like Show Business," and "Cry Me a River," following his unique vision, becomes an emotionally broken Bourbon Street funereal march. Strings swell, horns wail and skronk, high hats tap time, and those magic fingers dance across the keys. All told, Come by Me is a welcome invitation. --Paige La Grone