Adventures never end for Harry Connick Jr.

Harry Connick Jr.

Harry Connick Jr. has achieved a lot in his 30-plus-year career. He's an acclaimed singer, a respected jazz pianist, an in-demand film and TV actor and a multiple Grammy and Emmy winner. But, this past month, the thing he's been most proud of is being from New Orleans.

Almost five years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the Crescent City was energized by the Saints' Super Bowl win, and the celebration continued into the annual Mardi Gras festivities.

For his latest album, 2009's "Your Songs," Harry Connick Jr. worked with legendary producer and record executive Clive Davis.

"It just focused a lot of positive attention on us," says Connick, who was born and raised in the Big Easy. "It's such a feel-good story. I think people want to be a part of it on some level. It just keeps us in the headlines, in a good way. And we really need that."

The 42 year-old Connick is riding that wave of excitement into another highly anticipated concert tour, one that makes a stop at Memphis' Cannon Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday night.

A child jazz prodigy growing up in New Orleans -- where his father was the district attorney and a sometime singer -- Connick's career blossomed with his work on the soundtrack to 1989's romantic comedy "When Harry Met Sally..."

With more than 25 million albums sold, and a wall full of gold and platinum albums to his credit, Connick's remarkable success created the template for the modern-day crooner, with the likes of Michael Bublé and others following successfully in his wake.

Connick, for one, though, doesn't view himself that way. "I see myself as a piano player and a singer. It began as a 5-year-old sitting on a bandstand playing 'Way Down Yonder in New Orleans.' I just enjoy this music, and I don't care about a style or an image," says Connick.

"I do hear people talking about the 'crooner' thing. But if you come see me play, I don't know if that's what you're getting. I think you're getting the Harry Connick show. It's not like you're getting a template. If you saw Frank (Sinatra) or Nat King Cole or Judy Garland, those were completely individual talents. That's what I hope I am."

Connick's most recent album, 2009's Your Songs, found him working with legendary Sony record label executive Clive Davis -- the man responsible for nurturing the careers of Whitney Houston and Barry Manilow, among others.

"I hadn't met him before," says Connick. "He was kind of looking through the artists on the label and expressed some interest in working with me. And I hadn't ever done anything like that before, working with an outside producer. I was kind of intrigued by it."

The two began trading ideas for songs, tossing back suggestions for material to record, ranging from Connick's beloved big band chestnuts to Davis' ideas, which included covering The Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You."

"There are thousands of great songs, and part of what I do is interpret things I think will be interesting," says Connick. "I never would've thought I'd be singing 'Close to You.' It's not the kind of tune that would've crossed my mind normally. But it's got a great melody, great lyrics. Clive pushed me into some situations that I wasn't initially comfortable with, but that I grew to be quite fond of."

Onstage, much of Connick's appeal rests on his easy charm and his myriad gifts: as a singer, actor, comedian -- in short, an entertainer. "But that's New Orleans," says Connick. "When we play traditional jazz in New Orleans, you talk to the people, and you engage the audience. That's just what you do. It wasn't ever about saying I gotta get my triple threat together. I never thought about it like that."

However, Connick admits his acting career -- he's appeared regularly in films and television and also has trod the Broadway stage -- hasn't been an accident. "I don't want to sound 'aw shucks' about it either," he says. "Because I've done 20 movies, and even though some of them have been disastrous, each one of them has been the result of an extensive decision-making process: You read the script, meet the director, talk to the other actors, talk to the producers, you clear your schedule. You don't just do it; they've all been active choices.

"And I think they've all really been worth it. Even the movies that really suck were really great experiences," says Connick, laughing. "Even the bad experiences have been great experiences."

Connick says that his future will hold more ambitious plans, like scoring and directing a film or Broadway play. "I'd like to do all of that stuff," he says. "Somehow, as my life has gone thus far, it feels like it's been preparing me for bigger adventures."

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Harry Connick Jr.

8 p.m. Saturday at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 N. Main St. Tickets range from $57.10 to $99.83. They're available at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com or by calling (800) 745-3000.

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