Show me" he confided "Being recognized as an artist is something you work for but I will do anything to maintain my personal life That's more important to me than my career It's wonderful to be on stage but it's crazy to lose your personal life It's not worth it You never get it back If I get any more famous I'm going to have to become a hermit" Because he is I wondered whether he was hiding some hurt His mother who was a judge in New Orleans died of cancer when Harry was 13 and it was she who had taken him to his piano lessons and encouraged him to pursue a career in music Some people who know him well told me that her death was the defining moment in the young boy's life "He could have gone awry" said one of his closest friends "but he didn't His mother's presence is with him more than ever now that he's made it as a star" Curiously though when I questioned him along those lines he replied: "There is no correlation between what I've done and accomplished and my mother's death When she died it wasn't like she laid on her deathbed and said some profound thing I just had a terrible time but !kept writing songs and playing No one's ever going to find out how I feel about my mother's death because I don't choose to share that with millions of people You know it's interesting in interviews nobody ever asks me about my dad" His father has been district attorney of New Orleans since 1974 Harry Jr then just 6 years old played "The Banner" at his father's swearing-in ceremony As a child prodigy he jammed with James Booker the rhythm-and-blupianist and later studied with Ellis Marsalis father of the jazz stars Wynton and Branford Marsalis By the time he was 20 Harry had brought out albums of songs two "When people pay money to see you" he said "it's not like when they put a record on at home They've come to see something special I think most musicians are embarrassed to smile They're a little shy and want to hide behind an instrument It's not cool to smile because it's like you're not a true musician but I've always been an entertainer" and entertainer should be artistically controversial but not for shock value My family wouldn't be proud of me" Nor did he apologize for his outspoken opinions He called MTV "pornog- raphy" And of sexually explicit per- formers like Madonna he said "If women want to grab crotches and burn crosses--- it's despicable" I asked how he reconciled his moral stance with the fact that his fiancée a curvaceous model named Jill Goodacre 27 poses in Victoria's Secret catalogs let people have a good time That's another way I'm like my daddy" A number of interviewers have not- to handle superstardom or whether like so many young shooting stars he will become so narcissistic that it will get in the way of his continued growth I'm betting that he will continue to mature and if he works at it blossom After many hours of conversation with this intriguing young man I felt I was nearing an answer to the question of what made Harry Connick Jr unique I told him that I had heard he has a dream— which he has never discussed in public —for a special musical performance Would he tell me about it? He seemed surprised by the question hesitated then answered slowly "Yes" he said "I want to play a solo concert in Carnegie Hall on May 22" "Why on that date?" I asked "Because" he said "I want to play there on my mom's birthday" ill ed that Harry Connick Jr can sound cocky and arrogant one minute the next "If I'm at the piano playing" he has said "it doesn't take much effort for me to open my mouth and sing" A minute later he's knocking one of his own albums calling it "the worst piece of junk I've done" This contradictory attitude has led some to question whether he will be able IP k - -- J I 1 I ' I - vie i 1 I If 4 I1 1 1 i - child prodigy who later sr I - Left Hari age 3 at the drums Connich was a t 0 -- -- — - -- ----- 4 --- ' f " ' ' fklq Jec f studied with jazz musicians Below: With his sister Suzamta 27 and their well-kno- 1 11 Je: - e Star-Spangl- ed fanned and fathom 410:: the district attorney of New Weans es I i --- ' wearing skimpy lingerie "Many models I've met do things that I don't con- sider very ladylike" he said "but Jill has done a good job of being classy and elegant My grandmother wore lingerie and she was very conservative I'm so proud of what Jill's done and I don't think either of our families would approve of her doing something that was even remotely vulgar Every picture she's done could be put up in a church" Connick and Goodacre plan to marry in about a year Meanwhile he intends to continue pursuing his career as a composer singer pianist and movie star "I love making movies but I'll never leave music alone completely" he says "I take 30 people on the road when I travel with my band It's expensive but it's important that people have the opportunity to hear a big band I love to entertain and Unlike many jazz musicians from 19 1992 PAGE ) li 5 With his fiancée a lingerie model: "Envy picture she's done could be put up in a thick" says Connick MI Goodacre - 1 1 )'F'''' - i New Orleans "The Big Easy" Harry Connick Jr is proud of his strong sense of morality which he absorbed from his father a decrusading district-attorne- y vout Roman Catholic But although the family is stoutly conservative Harry Jr is not preachy For instance he did not boast that he neither smokes nor drinks has never taken drugs and turns down many movie scripts that offend his moral values even if their foul language and nudity do not involve the role for which he is being considered "I'm not interested in cursing and doing sexual scenes in the movies" he said "I don't think that's right A performer JANUARY ''' 1St I well-receiv- PARADE MAGAZINE 4 -- li t 0 I ' 1 l'i NT - should 6 ketformer and entertainer controversial" says be MIX A Harry Connick Jr: "but not for shock value My family wouldn't be proud of me" |