A quick word with: Harry Connick jr

Connick says his latest album features songs that everyone will know. Photo / NZ Herald

In this series of concerts Connick will sing songs from his latest album, Your Songs, made up of versions of classic tunes like the Beatles' And I Love Her and Burt Bacharach's They Long To Be Close To You.

On the album the usually smooth operator even mumbles and mooches his way through a tune or two; just don't make too much of it.

"Mumbling?," says the crooner, clearly a little miffed. Hey, Harry, we meant mumbling in a good way.

So you're on tour then Harry?

I'm here on my tour bus right now in California, going from one venue to the next. We're on the road, and you know how that is, we're just trying to knock them down one night at a time.

You're an old hand at putting your own spin on classic songs. So how is Your Songs different?

It's a collaboration with a producer named Clive Davis [Alicia Keys and Kelly Clarkson to name a few] and basically we picked the songs together and tried to come up with a list of songs that everyone would know. All I really wanted to do with this album was put together a very popular and familiar group of songs and feature my singing as opposed to doing a jazz record. It was just a labour of love - and a lot of fun.

It's also varied. On the song Your Song [by Elton John] you're mumbling and mooching, which is very different from your usual style?

Mumbling? [long pause] I don't know ... I was just thinking, when I was singing it, about a person who would write a lyric like that, and in this case it was a guy who was writing to his lady love, that he loved very much, but he didn't have that much else to give. And I've been there, I know what that's like. You have a crush on somebody and you don't have any money and a song is all you've got to give. That's just how I sang it.

So what makes these songs so classic and popular?

It's hard to say. The versions of those songs that were recorded originally, why they were hits, I don't know, because there are a lot of great songs that have never been hits. But they're just all well known classic songs and I couldn't tell you why. They all have great lyrics, that's for sure.

And I Love Her is not your typical - some might even say it's an obscure - choice of Beatles song.

I went through a whole lot of Beatles songs, because I love the Beatles, and I came up with that one because it's a popular song but it's not one of their songs that gets done over and over again. The melody is simple and beautiful, and the lyrics are simple and beautiful.

And what about Bésame Mucho which your dad chose.

It's a hugely familiar song all over the world but my dad wanted me to sing it in Spanish. So that's a tribute to him.

When did you realise you could sing and when did you develop your own voice?

When I was a kid I used to imitate Louis Armstrong a lot. That was a big deal for me because he was my hero. But once I was 13 or 14 I started singing in my own voice, and it was just something that felt right for me. And if you listen to me sing when I was 20, then 30 versus 40 there are huge differences - my range has gotten bigger, and my tone has gotten a bit thicker over the years.

You're a busy man what with movies and music. But will music always be your first love?

I will always have a lot of irons in the fire at one time because that's the sort of person I am. I love to act, and it really is a huge part of my life right now, but I love music, because that's where I started, it's something that's so familiar, I've done it for so long, and it's what I spend most of my time doing.

* Harry Connick Jnr. and his five-piece band play the Civic in Auckland on March 13, the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington, March 14, and the Christchurch Town Hall March 16.