He Came, He Thawed and He Conquered

Harry Connick Jr. does so many things so well--from singing to acting to piano playing to composing--that one sometimes wonders whether he’s found a successful formula for cloning. But of the many entertainment media in which he functions, none is more convincing than his appearances in front of the hard-swinging Harry Connick Jr. Big Band.

His performance at the Kodak Theatre Thursday night, however, opened on an odd note. Connick’s first two songs--”It Might as Well Be Spring” and “So in Love”--displayed some crisp ensemble work from the band. But Connick, too captivated by the Sinatra simulation that is the least appealing aspect of his art, seemed to be starting slowly, a bit out of focus with the music.

The situation was not particularly enhanced by the fact that the Kodak, for some incomprehensible reason, was chilled to a temperature more appropriate for preserving a side of beef. Audience members, some wearing lightweight garb, had no choice but to hunker down in their seats in an effort to avoid the gale-force air-conditioner breezes.

Fortunately, both Connick and the room eventually heated up, the former much more quickly than the latter. By the time he’d dug into a darkly inventive piano solo on “Charade,” followed by a loosely swinging “I’ll Be Seeing You,” Connick was cooking, blending his singing, his piano playing and the collective skills of his ensemble (including fiery trumpet work from Leroy Jones) into a rich musical gumbo.

Humorous and quick-witted, an entertaining raconteur between songs, Connick warned early on that, with a bunch of jazz musicians on stage, the evening would probably be unpredictable. And he was right. Although individual segments were obviously well planned and rehearsed, the program’s most appealing aspect was the spontaneous, improvisatory fashion in which it was presented.

There was no hesitation on Connick’s part, for example, to offer a slow, densely harmonized (with additional multiphonic sounds from the saxophones) version of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Insensitive.” Going against bossa nova type, the rendering emphasized the poignancy of Norman Gimbel’s English lyrics rather than the genre’s floating rhythms.

Shifting gears easily, Connick added a tune from his failed Broadway musical, “Thou Shalt Not,” before dipping into a set of tunes from “Songs I Heard,” his album of music from children’s films. Among the highlights: a New Orleans band version of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and a revival of “The Jitterbug,” a song written for, and dropped from, “The Wizard of Oz.”

He added an original, “Luscious,” featuring the jaunty trombone playing and singing of Lucien Barbarian, and wrapped the set with a colorful group of songs in which he dueted with the blues-drenched guitar playing of Jonathan DuBose Jr. By that time, the Kodak was very warm indeed.

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Harry Connick Jr. performs with his big band tonight at the Terrace Theatre, 300 East Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, 8 p.m. $50-$65. (562) 436-3661. Connick performs with his quartet on Monday at the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City, 8 and 10 p.m. $30. (310) 271-9039.