Harry Connick Jr. displayed his trademark humor and class at the closing weekend of the Chateau Ste. Michelle outdoor music series. By Misha Berson Seattle Times arts critic September 26, 2010 Harry Connick Jr. is a gas onstage — funny, impish, sexy, gracious, goofy. That ebullient personality was on display Saturday night at Chateau Ste. Michelle. And so was the singer-pianist's musical split personality — which, lucky for his fans, is a case of Jekyll and Jekyll. Connick has managed handily to balance both of his musical passions (retro standards and down-home blues) with a solid acting career and admirable activism on behalf of his native burg. (You may recall him piloting a boat down flooded New Orleans streets after Hurricane Katrina, to help rescue survivors from their homes). At the Chateau (his two-night stand there closes out the winery's 2010 summer music series), Connick fronted a band with half a dozen string players, and a hearty horn section. He opened his leisurely, chatty two-hour Saturday set with a batch of classic romantic ballads — including a handful from his most recent disc, "Your Song." Though the instrumental arrangements were fairly elaborate, recalling the velvety string charts of Nelson Riddle and the swinging big bands of Basie and Herman (in miniature), Connick's smooth vocal approach was, as ever, simply classy. He still sounds uncannily (and delectably) like Frank Sinatra, but with a thicker tone and a pinch of Southern grit by way of his native New Orleans. Crooning ballads like "All the Way," "Smile" and the Beatles' "And I Love Her," he managed to be utterly sincere yet undeniably hip. Connick helped usher in the standards revival (he was way ahead of Michael Bublé). At the Chateau he recalled getting his first big break singing tunes by Gershwin, Ellington, et al for the soundtrack of the hit 1989 movie "When Harry Met Sally ... " An early highlight in his set was from the film: a dreamy "It Had to Be You." But the other side of Connick is all about his vibrant hometown. When he sat down at the keyboard to pound out some funky barrelhouse blues, the crowd lit up. Tutored as a lad by legendary New Orleans piano virtuoso James Booker, Connick laid down some rollicking boogie woogie — and with a lot more vivacity and chops than his more tentative jazz piano soloing. To keep the party going, Connick had New Orleans trombone king Lucien Barbarin (of the famed Preservation Hall Jazz Band) join him on a rousing spree of traditional and modern jive-jumps (i.e., "Didn't He Ramble"), evoking the Big Easy in all its Mardi Gras and Basin Street glory. Barbarin's gravelly singing and growly trombone, and his comic byplay with Connick, brought to mind one of the greatest sons of New Orleans, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong cutting up with that other hip crooner, Bing Crosby. And that ain't no bad thing.