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Harry Connick, Jr. has turned one of the most personal stories of his life into a moving book and music project honoring his late mother.
In this new Joann Butler In Studio With..., the incomparable Harry Connick, Jr. says his latest passion project Babe: Elaboratiowas a long time coming, inspired by his mother and the dream she had for him to one day perform at Carnegie Hall. After losing her to ovarian cancer when he was just 13, Connick decided he would wait for a truly special reason to enter the iconic New York City venue, after decades of turning down opportunities to perform there.
That moment finally came on May 22 of this year, what would have been his mother’s 100th birthday, when he performed music written just for her. “I remember being very emotional during the performance,” he says.
The project also includes a companion book, which Connick wrote alongside the music, and a large-scale recording featuring a full orchestra of 70+ musicians from Orchestra Victoria and the Harry Connick, Jr. Big Band.
For Connick, the tribute reaches beyond his own family. “This is about women. This is about mothers and how infinitely powerful that is,” he tells Butler.
Babe: Elaboratio – A Tribute to My Mother is out now digitally and on CD, along with Connick’s debut book of the same name. The vinyl edition of the album arrives November 13.
Music has been central to Connick’s life from the beginning. Growing up in New Orleans, he was already deeply immersed in piano as a child, eventually studying with legendary musician James Booker and developing the voice that would become just as recognizable as his playing.
That long musical journey would later stretch into everything from four Christmas albums to one of his most enduring pop-culture moments, When Harry Met Sally... Connick credits director Rob Reiner with giving him an early break on the film, calling the opportunity “one of the greatest strokes of luck” of his career.
He shares the stories behind it all — and more.
This is a LifeMinute with Harry Connick, Jr.
