First of all, I am not really a fan of Jazz, the Blues or Big Band music, yet Elaine and I watched Harry Connick Jr. at the PICC tonight. I was not exactly planning to watch this concert. This artist had no bonafide "hits" for me to look forward to. However, I came by these two precious Right Flat section tickets by a literal luck of a draw (thanks to Sunday Inquirer Magazine). The tickets said 8pm, but much of the audience came in after 830 already. Still when Harry Connick and his band came out and started the concert there were several empty seats all over.
I was really struck by Mr. Connick's amazing piano playing which I totally did not know about him. His singing voice was very rich and dramatic as well. I am just so sorry that I did not know probably less than half of the songs they were performing, which largely diminished my overall appreciation. I could only recognize standards like "Hello Dollly", "Jambalaya" (Harry is from New Orleans), "Iko Iko," and "Yes We Can Can." He has some beautiful and bluesy ballads like "When Someone Really Loves You" and "When Your Lover Has Gone." But the audience really comes alive when Harry stands from his piano and dances around onstage. His featured musicians (some of whom have been playing with him for the past 18 years) were excellent players of the tenor, alto and baritone sax, trumpet and trombone, all of whom got their due solo spots.
But another thing that makes this concert memorable and lively is the COMEDY! This guy Harry was really so funny and IRREVERENT. He got away with controversial jokes about Manila not having pretty women (OK, only beautiful), and that Filipinos having no rhythm (because some audience member were clapping out of time) because of his charming delivery.
Then he announced that he thought "Halo Halo" (a local mixed treats sweet dessert topped by ice) was "NASTY"! I never heard that said before. It was so hilarious when he was describing all the individual ingredients (funny descriptions of ube and nata de coco) until he reached the corn and red beans, and declared "I do not want vegetables in my snow cone!" Hahaha!
Then he spent a long segment talking about and actually challenging himself to eat "Balut" (days-old duck egg) for the first time onstage! He even called a lucky girl from the audience to instruct him on the proper procedure. He did go through with it though, and he called it "GROSS"! Hahaha! Audience loved it! Then he settled down to play a bluesy number on the piano, he let out a major burp! Hahaha! Quite the joker this Harry.
In the later part of the concert (after the Balut segment) when Harry removed his tie and blazer and folded up the sleeves of his crisp white shirt, he really cut loose in his piano playing and dancing. In his last last song "Come By Me", he even turned his back to the audience, lifted his shirt tails and began gyrating and shaking his booty across the stage to the delight of the women there! LOL!
Overall, the music style is not really for me, but there is no denying the great musicianship in this concert. The show was made more enjoyable by Harry's quirky sense of humor (no wonder he got that featured role in "Will and Grace"). He certainly charmed the audience with genuine friendliness and sparkling personality.
