NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- Harry Connick Jr. does n't look like someone who 's released 24 albums : no gray hairs , no stooped posture . Harry Connick Jr. 's new album , `` Your Songs , '' contains standards old and new . At 42 ( his birthday was September 11 ) the singer/pianist was boyish and enthusiastic when we caught up with him at an event at New York 's Hiro Ballroom last week to celebrate his latest release . Called `` Your Songs , '' the new album features standards such as `` All the Way '' and `` Some Enchanted Evening '' and rock-era pop tunes including `` Close to You '' and `` Ca n't Help Falling in Love . '' The idea was to sing songs that people know and love , Connick says . Not that it was his idea necessarily . The concept was mostly dreamed up by impresario and Sony Music executive Clive Davis , who had indicated he 'd really like to work with Connick . Connick , an accomplished composer unaccustomed to working with studio bigwigs , admits he was at first scratching his head over the idea of collaborating with Davis : `` I did n't even know what that means . '' Getting on the same page in the beginning was n't easy . `` I 'm not gon na lie , a couple of those meetings were rough , '' Connick told the audience at Hiro , which included 77-year-old Davis . Connick also made fun of Davis ' use of music terminology like `` picayune '' and `` strident '' and his reference to songs as `` copyrights . '' Watch Connick talk about the `` intense experience '' » . But there was flattery , too , when Connick addressed Davis directly from the stage between songs . `` Clive , I have to say , it was a great learning experience to watch how your brain works , '' he said . A few tidbits that emerged after picking Connick 's brain : . Hands on , hands off . While Davis , known for building careers for the likes of Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys , was eager to be involved with Connick 's latest project , he suggested Connick arrange all the pieces on the album himself . And when it came to recording ( which took about two weeks ) , Connick says Davis respectfully stepped out of the way . Wynton learns Elvis . Connick invited jazz trumpeter and lifelong friend Wynton Marsalis to do a solo on his version of Elvis Presley 's `` Ca n't Help Falling in Love . '' Says Connick : `` He says , ' I do n't know that . I do n't listen to Elvis Presley . I do n't know the song . ' So I played it for him and he said 'OK ' and he played it once and went home . And it was a brilliant solo . '' Paging Dr. Connick . After portraying a doctor who develops a breast cancer drug in the 2008 Lifetime movie `` Living Proof , '' Connick says he gets approached by strangers who often confuse him for the real deal : `` People have come up to me and said , ' I 'm taking the drug Herceptin . Are there any drug interactions or precautions I need to take ? ' And I say , ' I 'm a piano player , man . I do n't know what you should be taking . ' It 's a strange deal . '' Oh my , NOLA . Connick is upbeat about his hometown of New Orleans , Louisiana , four years after Hurricane Katrina : `` Man , New Orleans is really coming along . And as tragic as that storm was , it really shed a lot of light on some topics and issues that needed to be discussed and remedied and I 'm so thankful that a lot of progress has been made . It still has a long way to go ... but it really looks like it 's moving right along . ''
Harry Connick Jr. 's new album , `` Your Songs , '' is collection of old and new standards . Connick was led to the project by Sony executive Clive Davis . Wynton Marsalis was drafted into a one-take solo on old Elvis Presley song . New Orleans has come a long way , says Connick of his hometown .