What a Night! A Christmas Album explained

What a Night!
A Christmas Album
Type:studio
Artist:Harry Connick Jr.
Cover:What a Night! A Christmas Album (Harry Connick, Jr.).jpg
Released: November 4, 2008
Recorded:August 21–30, 2008
Genre:Jazz, Christmas
Label:Sony/Columbia (U.S.)
Producer:Tracey Freeman
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What a Night! A Christmas Album, by American singer, pianist and bandleader Harry Connick Jr., was released on November 4, 2008.,[1] 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.[2]

The first public mentioning of recording the album, came in an interview in The Times-Picayune in June 2008.[3]

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.[4] 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".[5]

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".[5]

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. "Have a 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. 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

Weekly charts

Chart (2008)Peak
position
US Billboard 200[6] 20
US Top Holiday Albums (Billboard)[7] 5
US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[8] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2009)Position
US Billboard 200[9] 146
US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[10] 3

Personnel

Arrangement by Harry Connick Jr.

Tour

Concert Tour Name:A Holiday Celebration Tour
Last Tour:My New Orleans Tour
(2007-2008)
This Tour: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

DateCityCountryVenue
North America
November 18, 2008Louisville, KentuckyUnited StatesPalace Theatre[11]
November 19, 2008Cincinnati, OhioUnited StatesTaft Theatre
November 20, 2008Columbus, OhioUnited StatesOhio Theatre
November 21, 2008Charleston, West VirginiaUnited StatesClay Center
November 22, 2008Cleveland, OhioUnited StatesState Theatre
November 28, 2008New York, New YorkUnited StatesCity Center Theatre
November 29, 2008
December 4, 2008Newark, New JerseyUnited StatesNew Jersey Performing Arts Center
December 5, 2008Atlantic City, New JerseyUnited StatesBorgata Event Center
December 7, 2008St. Louis, MissouriUnited StatesFox Theatre
December 9, 2008Minneapolis, MinnesotaUnited StatesOrpheum Theatre
December 10, 2008Chicago, IllinoisUnited StatesChicago Theatre
December 11, 2008
December 12, 2008Milwaukee, WisconsinUnited StatesRiverside Theater
December 14, 2008Nashville, TennesseeUnited StatesRyman Auditorium
December 16, 2008Atlanta, GeorgiaUnited StatesCobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
December 17, 2008Durham, North CarolinaUnited StatesDurham Performing Arts Center
December 19, 2008Boston, MassachusettsUnited StatesColonial Theatre
December 20, 2008
December 21, 2008

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EYGOHE What a Night! A Christmas Album
  2. http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=SONCD37020 Harry Connick, Jr/What a Night! A Christmas Album
  3. http://blog.nola.com/davewalker/2008/06/harry_connick_blog_take_w_audi.html Harry Connick Jr.'s new Lifetime movie raises money for breast cancer research
  4. http://music.barnesandnoble.com/What-a-Night-A-Christmas-Album/Harry-Connick-Jr/e/886973702048/?itm=5 What a Night! A Christmas Album
  5. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/harry-connick-jr-celebrates-the,567043.shtml Harry Connick Jr. Celebrates the Holidays With Seasonal Favorites and New Songs on 'What A Night! – A Christmas Album'
  6. Web site: Harry Connick, Jr., TLP. Billboard. May 23, 2021. subscription.
  7. Web site: Harry Connick, Jr., XML. Billboard. May 23, 2021. subscription.
  8. Web site: Harry Connick, Jr., JLS. Billboard. May 23, 2021. subscription.
  9. Web site: Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2009. Billboard. May 23, 2021.
  10. Web site: Jazz Albums – Year-End 2009. Billboard. May 23, 2021.
  11. Web site: Harry Connick Jr. – Tour Dates & Info. October 26, 2008. A Holiday Celebration Tour 2008. harryconnickjr.com.