My New Orleans Tour

The My New Orleans Tour was a 2007 concert tour by American singer, pianist, and actor Harry Connick, Jr. backed by his big band. The tour promoted his albums Oh, My NOLA (My New Orleans) and Chanson du Vieux Carré. The first concert of the tour was on February 23, 2007 at the Mizner Park Amphitheatre in Boca Raton, Florida. The first part of the tour took place in the USA and Canada. The second part of the tour was in Europe, and in 2008 the tour came to Asia and Australia.

One of the dates was the closing act at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, on May 6, 2007. Connick was also supposed to be part of a concert with clarinetist Alvin Batiste at the same festival, called "Marsalis Music honors Alvin Batiste & Bob French". However, Batiste died of an apparent heart attack only hours before he was to perform. The concert, that also included Branford Marsalis and Bob French, went on as planned, in memory of Alvin Batiste.

At the Montreal Jazz Festival, on June 30, 2007, Connick received the Ella Fitzgerald Award, "in recognition of the versatility, improvisational originality and quality of repertoire of a jazz singer renowned on the international scene."

For the March 9, 2008 concert in Shanghai, China, an old set list had mistakenly been given to Chinese authorities when applying for permits to play in China. An hour before the concert, authorities showed up, and the old set list was found to contain songs that were considered inappropriate to perform, and a number of "safe" songs were added. Connick & co. revised the set list with current songs, but did not get approval. Connick's big band did not have the charts for the permitted songs on the old set list, so they often remained quiet through the concert. Connick issued a statement four days later, saying "Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was not able to give my fans in China the show I intended." The issue that China had with Connick's setlist, was likely to stem from a March 2 concert with Björk, who dedicated a song to Tibet at the end of her performance. (See Björk: "Declare Independence" live dedications)