Images by Robert Maxwell
Words by Ron Mwangaguhunga

How cool is Harry Connick, Jr.? Also known as "The Big Easy" because of the effortless charm he exudes while performing, Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is a master composer of lyrics and music, a pianist, an actor, an orchestrator, a band leader and he has recently tried his restless and nimble hand as an arranger for a major Broadway production.

Harry recently created the music lyrics and score for the stage adaptation of Emile Zola's novel "Therese Raquin," which ran this fall at New York's Plymouth Theater under the title "Thou Shalt Not." Harry Connick, Jr., quite frankly, is addicted to performing.

Harry Connick, Jr. is also addicted to Macs. MacDirectory caught up with Harry while on tour after his recent trip to the MacWorld Expo. "Aw, it was great," Harry said about the biannual event. "I love 'em, you know." When asked if he owns a Mac, Harry becomes animated: "Oh yeah, I own a bunch of them." How many? "If you consider the ones we use on the road," replies Harry, "probably thirty.".

Luck has almost certainly played a part in Harry's meteoric rise to celebrity, and he will be the first person to tell you so. Beyond luck, however, Harry's fame has come about in equal part, if not more, as a result of the tireless energy he devotes to perfecting his craft. Harry is a consummate performer who holds an almost holy regard for the importance of improvisation. Harry Connick, Jr.'s father also just happens to be Harry Connick, Sr, the charismatic law and order District Attorney from New Orleans, who has held the same post for the past twenty-seven years. As the son of a high profile DA, performance may be in Connick's blood.

Perhaps the best way to explain the reverence that Harry Connick, Jr. holds for public performance lies in his beginnings as a child prodigy. A born performer, Connick estimates that he began playing the piano at age three. From there, Harry fine-tuned his performing skills so that by six years old he played at his father's inauguration as District Attorney in New Orleans. Harry's big break occurred after he appeared on his first jazz recording at the age of ten.

After asking Harry what it is about performing that was so important, he excitedly answered, "I like the fact that it's fleeting... you know... [a performance] is just a one time occurrence, and either it's going to be magical on some level or it's not. It's the constant quest for the perfect show, which I've never really experienced." That sounds existential, I tell him. "Yeah," replies Harry, thoughtfully, "it is."