Connick on Piano, Volume 1: Other Hours by Harry Connick, Jr.

Other Hours: Connick On Piano Volume 1 is a jazz instrumental album, by Harry Connick Jr., released in 2003. The album features Connick on piano in the context of a small jazz group. Other Hours is his first quartet album, and it was also his first instrumental album in 13 years. The album is the first of his career not released on Columbia, the label that signed him to a contract when he was 19. Columbia has allowed Connick to release his less commercial (i.e., nonvocal) recordings on the Marsalis Music label, a new company led by longtime friend Branford Marsalis. "The Connick on Piano series will be purely instrumental, with all kinds of configurations: solo, big band, quartet, trio", Connick explains. The twelve Connick compositions on Other Hours was originally made for the musical Thou Shalt Not (2001), which was the recipient of a Tony nomination for Best Original Musical Score (music & lyrics by Harry Connick Jr). A special feature is the cover artwork. Created by his mother, Anita, who died when Connick was only 13 years old. A treasured drawing which holds great significance for the artist. "My mother loved when I played piano for her", Connick explained, "so I thought it would be fitting to have a piece of her vision next to mine."