The Connick Lexicon

In his churlish April 13 review of Harry Connick Jr.’s phenomenal concert at the Catalina Bar and Grill, A. James Liska displays a philistinism I thought was the sole property of those letter writers who defend Barry Manilow or who don’t understand why Robert Hilburn touts Bruce Springsteen.

The first time I heard Harry Connick Jr.--on National Public Radio--I hadn’t known of him or his supposed hype, but I instantly recognized that here was someone who had absorbed so much of the jazz-blues-Dixieland lexicon that he could quote it liberally, even mock it, and then use it to make original musical statements.

Liska is right on one thing: Connick is not Michael Feinstein; he’s in another league altogether.

KEN LETNER

Los Angeles