Harry Connick, Jr. - Early Life

Early Life

Connick, Jr., was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother, Anita Frances (née Levy; later Livingston; May 22, 1926 — July 1981), was a lawyer and judge in New Orleans and, later, a Louisiana Supreme Court justice. His father, Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Sr., was the district attorney of Orleans Parish from 1973–2003. His parents also owned a record store. Connick, Jr.'s father is a Catholic of Irish ancestry. Connick, Jr.'s mother, who died from ovarian cancer, was Jewish (her parents had immigrated from Minsk, Russia and Vienna, Austria). Connick, Jr. has a sister, Suzanna; the siblings were raised in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans. Connick is the first cousin of Jefferson Parish District Attorney, Paul Connick, and State Representative, Patrick Connick, of Harvey, also of Jefferson Parish.

Connick's musical talents soon came to the fore when he started learning the keyboards at age three, playing publicly at age five, and recording with a local jazz band at ten. When Connick, Jr., was nine years old, he performed the Piano Concerto No. 3 Opus 37 of Beethoven with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra (now the Louisiana Philharmonic), and later played a duet with Eubie Blake at the Royal Orleans Esplanade Lounge in New Orleans. The song was "I'm Just Wild About Harry". This was recorded for a Japanese documentary called Jazz Around the World. The clip was also shown in a Bravo special, called Worlds of Harry Connick, Jr. in 1999. His musical talents were developed at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and under the tutelage of Ellis Marsalis and James Booker.

Connick attended Jesuit High School, Isidore Newman School, Lakeview School, and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, all in New Orleans. Following an unsuccessful attempt to study jazz academically, and having given recitals in the classical and jazz piano programs at Loyola University, Connick moved to the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City to study at Hunter College and the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where a Columbia Records executive Sr. V.P. of A&R, Dr. George Butler, persuaded him to sign with that label. His first record for the label, Harry Connick Jr., was a mainly instrumental album of standards. He soon acquired a reputation in jazz because of extended stays at high-profile New York venues. His next album, 20, featured his vocals and added to this reputation.