What a Night! A Christmas Album

What a Night!
A Christmas Album
Studio album by Harry Connick, Jr.
Released November 4, 2008
Recorded 2008
Genre Jazz, Christmas
Label Sony/Columbia (U.S.)
Producer Tracey Freeman
Harry Connick, Jr. chronology
Oh, My NOLA
(2007)		 What a Night! A Christmas Album
(2008)		 Your Songs
(2009)
Harry Connick, Jr.
Christmas albums chronology
Harry for the Holidays
(2003)		 What a Night! A Christmas Album
(2008)
Singles from What a Night! A Christmas Album
  1. "Song for the Hopeful"
    Released: October 7, 2008
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Metromix [2]
Windsor Star [3]
Mercury News (Favorable)[4]
Eye Weekly [5]

What a Night! A Christmas Album, by American singer, pianist and bandleader Harry Connick, Jr., was released on November 4, 2008.,[6] being his third Christmas album, since 1993's When My Heart Finds Christmas and 2003's Harry for the Holidays. The album consists of new recordings of Christmas classics, and new songs written by Connick.[7]

The first public mentioning of recording the album, came in an interview in The Times-Picayune in June 2008.[8]

The album was first called Christmas Day, but the title was changed in September 2008, to What a Night! A Christmas Album.

The track "Song for the Hopeful", is a duet with Kim Burrell. The song was written by Connick for the 2008 television film Living Proof.[9] Burell is also featured on "Let There Be Peace On Earth".

Connick has three daughters with his wife Jill Goodacre, and their middle daughter Sarah Kate, sings a duet with him on the track "Winter Wonderland".[10]

When the track list was first announced, the songs "Christmas Time is Here" and "Trinity", was part of the album. In early October, those two tracks were replaced with two new tracks: "Christmas Day", and an instrumental version of Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy".[10]

Contents

Track listing

  1. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (Edward Pola, George Wyle) - 3:28
  2. "What A Night!" (Harry Connick, Jr.) - 3:24
  3. "Christmas Day" (Connick) - 3:24
  4. "Holly Jolly Christmas" (Johnny Marks) - 4:05
  5. "Please Come Home for Christmas" (Charles Brown, Gene Redd) - 4:26
  6. "O Come All Ye Faithful" (traditional) - 4:15
  7. "Dance Of The Sugarplum Fairies" (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky) - 2:46
  8. "Let There Be Peace On Earth" (Sy Miller, Jill Jackson) - 3:30 – feat. Kim Burrell
  9. "Winter Wonderland" (Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith) - 3:50 – feat. Sarah Kate Connick
  10. "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" (Meredith Willson) - 3:30
  11. "Santariffic" (Connick) - 3:58 – feat. Lucien Barbarin
  12. "Jingle Bells" (James Lord Pierpont) - 5:28
  13. "Zat You Santa Claus" (Jack Fox) - 3:40
  14. "We Three Kings" (Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr.) - 4:45
  15. "Song for the Hopeful" (Connick) - 4:35 – feat. Kim Burrell

iTunes bonus track

  1. "Auld Lang Syne" (traditional) - 2:16 (album only)
  2. Digital Booklet (album only)

Barnes & Noble Exclusive Version

  1. "Deck the Halls" (traditional) - 2:57
  2. "Christmas Time is Here" (Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson) - 5:06
  3. "O Christmas Tree" (traditional) - 3:22
Disc 2 (DVD)
  1. Holiday interview with Harry
  2. Photo gallery
  3. "(It Must Have Been) Ol’ Santa Claus" [*]
  4. "I Pray on Christmas" [*]
  5. "The Happy Elf" * [*]

^ [*] also found on the Harry for the Holidays DVD

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200[11] 20
U.S. Billboard Top Jazz Albums 1
U.S. Billboard Top Holiday Albums[12] 5

Personnel

Arrangement by Harry Connick, Jr.

Tour

A Holiday Celebration Tour
Tour by Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr. tour chronology
My New Orleans Tour
(2007-2008)		 A Holiday Celebration Tour
(2008)

A Holiday Celebration Tour 2008, is a concert tour with his big band to support the album. The tour was confirmed by the official Harry Connick, Jr. website in September 2008.

One of their stops included the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
North America
November 18, 2008 Louisville, KY United States Palace Theatre[13]
November 19, 2008 Cincinnati, OH United States Taft Theatre[13]
November 20, 2008 Columbus, OH United States Ohio Theatre[13]
November 21, 2008 Charleston, WV United States Clay Center[13]
November 22, 2008 Cleveland, OH United States State Theatre[13]
November 28, 2008 New York, NY United States City Center Theatre[13]
November 29, 2008
December 4, 2008 Newark, NJ United States New Jersey Performing Arts Center[13]
December 5, 2008 Atlantic City, NJ United States Borgata Event Center[13]
December 7, 2008 St. Louis, MO United States Fox Theatre[13]
December 9, 2008 Minneapolis, MN United States Orpheum Theatre[13]
December 10, 2008 Chicago, IL United States Chicago Theatre[13]
December 11, 2008
December 12, 2008 Milwaukee, WI United States Riverside Theater[13]
December 14, 2008 Nashville, TN United States Ryman Auditorium[13]
December 16, 2008 Atlanta, GA United States Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre[13]
December 17, 2008 Durham, NC United States Durham Performing Arts Center[13]
December 19, 2008 Boston, MA United States Colonial Theatre[13]
December 20, 2008
December 21, 2008

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Metromix review
  3. ^ Windsor Star review
  4. ^ Mercury News review
  5. ^ Eye Weekly review
  6. ^ What a Night! A Christmas Album, Amazon.com
  7. ^ Harry Connick, Jr/What a Night! A Christmas Album, elusivedisc.com
  8. ^ Harry Connick Jr.'s new Lifetime movie raises money for breast cancer research, The Times-Picayune, June 22, 2008
  9. ^ What a Night! A Christmas Album, Barnes & Noble
  10. ^ a b Harry Connick, Jr. Celebrates the Holidays With Seasonal Favorites and New Songs on 'What A Night! - A Christmas Album', The Earth Times, October 6, 2008
  11. ^ 'Twilight' soundtrack opens at No. 1, Variety, November 12, 2008
  12. ^ Top Holiday Albums, Billboard.com, December 24, 2008
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Harry Connick, Jr. – Tour Dates & Info". A Holiday Celebration Tour 2008. harryconnickjr.com. https://www.harryconnickjr.com/tours/. Retrieved 2008-10-26. 

External links

Harry Connick, Jr.
Vocal albums
20 (1988)  • We Are in Love (1990)  • Blue Light, Red Light (1991)  • 25 (1992)  • When My Heart Finds Christmas (1993)  • She (1994)  • Star Turtle (1996)  • To See You (1997)  • Come by Me (1999)  • 30 (2001)  • Songs I Heard (2001)  • Harry for the Holidays (2003)  • Only You (2004)  • Oh, My NOLA (2007)  • What a Night! (2008)  • Your Songs (2009)
Instrumental albums
Dixieland Plus (1977)  • Eleven (1979)  • Harry Connick Jr. (1987)  • Lofty's Roach Souffle (1990)  • Other Hours (2003)  • Occasion (2005)  • Chanson du Vieux Carré (2007)
Soundtrack albums
When Harry Met Sally... (1989)  • The Godfather Part III (1990)  • Sleepless in Seattle (1993)  • The Mask (1994)  • One Fine Day (1996)  • Kissing a Fool (1998)  • South Pacific (2001)  • The Happy Elf (2005)
Compilation albums
Cast recordings
Home media
Broadway
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