But he did step it up after the heckler... they played like hell for about 45 minutes in the next set starting with "We Are in Love."

After that, he told the story about how he performed at Sinatra's birthday bash 7 years ago and how he screwed up the song he was supposed to sing because he didn't want to wear his glasses to read the lyrics off the teleprompter. He told Henry Mancini to stop playing at that point, only to turn around and see Sinatra shaking his head. After the show Harry and his girlfriend followed Sinatra into an elevator, expecting him to say something like "here's the torch", but instead Sinatra apparently only looked at Harry's girlfriend and said "you're beautiful!" and walked out! Anyway, the way Harry told it brought the house down.

If memory serves me correct, I think they did some more from To See You at that point and then they brought on each of his players to do their individual things. Leroy Jones did "What a Wonderful World." The 'bone player was amazing... how he made those sounds... then they all got together and jammed up the place once again. Leroy Jones held this one note on the trumpet that just freaked everyone -- he held it for like a minute -- THEN he went up an octave. Drum solos were bad as hell...

That's how they closed off the concert... with a real BANG! They came back for an encore (it was really funny the way they came back on stage...the drummer laid down this latin pattern and they all came back mamboing on stage).

Anyways, it was an awesome show... I saw Tony Bennett at this time last year and he's got a great trio, but Harry's group just carry more guns. The whole place was electrified. Might have had something to do with the fact that most of us were in the 20/30-something crowd and Tony's crowd was largely on Medicare. Grrrreat show though, I HIGHLY recommend it!

The orchestra was beautiful, and Harry hit every note perfectly (of course). The choice of mixing the orchestra with his quartet was a very good one on Harry’s part. The two different sounds mixed flawlessly. You haven’t heard it the way it was meant unless you have heard it live. The rich sound totally filled the music hall.

After the first few relaxing love songs from To See You, some guy in the crowd yelled out, "Pick it up a notch!" Harry looked up and replied, "Hey man, you have to realize that this is a love album, an evening of romance." He paused for a second and then said (referring to the man’s comment) "I’m sure your lady friend has to say that to you from time to time." The crowd burst out in huge fits of laughter.

If the guy had waited a few more seconds, he would have found that the concert would "pick up a notch" from that point. The curtain lowered on the orchestra, it was the last we saw of them for an hour or so. The next hour was definitely the highlight of the show. It was like a huge jam session. Leroy Jones and Lucien Barbarin each had their own instrumental/vocal solo. Harry did not hog the spotlight at all. You could tell that he was just happy being out there with a group of such wonderful musicians/friends. They had a blast, and so did we.

The band left for a break, and Harry stayed out to tell some jokes, stories, and played a solo of "Sweet Georgia Brown". He told us a really funny story about how he forgot the words to a song during a Frank Sinatra birthday tribute, and had to tell the band to start over. He had everyone laughing out loud. He should be a stand up comedian.

When the band came back they jammed together some more, with each solo from each artist getting a huge ovation. They had the crowd in the palms of their hands. We all couldn’t help but get caught up in the atmosphere. These guys must put off really great parties.

As the show winded down, the orchestra came out for a beautiful rendition of "To See You" and finished the show off with "Learn To Love". As Harry and his gang left the stage everyone stood up and gave a standing ovation. It seemed like forever before they finally came back out for an encore. But much to everyone’s delight, they did come back and immediately broke into a very upbeat number that had everyone’s toes tapping. All of the band got one more solo, with one trying to outdo the other. It was the perfect way to close the perfect show.

Immediately afterwards, my date and I ran back to the stage door and waited in the freezing cold with a growing line of other excited fans for what seemed like an eternity. We were all hoping to catch a glimpse of Harry. Finally his security guard came out and said that if we lined up in an orderly fashion he would bring Harry out. The quartet made their exit first, then Leroy Jones. He really won the crowd's heart and had an autograph lineup of his own. Finally, Harry came out and patiently shook hands and signed autographs. He was a true gentleman and is... A true performer.