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When Debra was a guest on HARRY, she helped him set the record straight with a comical PSA. "He's not really Dr. Leo Markus. He's Harry freakin' Connick freakin' Jr. Please America, it's time to let this go," she quipped. Harry understands it though and recollects how when he met Lee Majors, from The Six Million Dollar Man —his favorite TV show as a kid, he didn't know what to say since, "he had superpowers and I kinda believed. Y'know? People love to fanaticize and wonder what it's like to be in these other realities, so I get it. So, people thought I was really cheating on Grace. That's my friend, Debra." He laughs. The other big surprise in his career came with the release of the When Harry Met Sally soundtrack –his album featuring soulful, jazz-spiked renditions of "It Had to Be You," "Our Love is Here to Stay," and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." The album went double-platinum and garnered him his first Grammy for Best Jazz Male Vocal Performance. "Prior to that I had done a couple of albums and they did OK. They sold 10,000 records, which was, for me, unbelievable. But then that came out and sold millions of records. And I just couldn't get over that. That was when people started recognizing me, not only in the United States but all over the world. They would come up to me and say, 'Oh, you're that guy' or 'You're Harry' and I was like, Wow, that's incredible. So, that was pretty surprising." Four years earlier, Harry had just moved to New York at the age of 18 and was playing in clubs, trying to make a name for himself as a singer and piano player. Then, Rob Reiner asked him to do the soundtrack and his career took off. "Back then they didn't have YouTube. They didn't have 85 different ways to get your product out there. So, it was a very powerful way to become famous —so that was a trip." He smiles. If Harry is sure about anything, it's that he was meant to be a musician. At a very young age, Harry took an immediate liking to the piano. "I have memories of being 4 or 5 years old kinda plunking out notes on the piano. And I remember being fascinated with that. It was really cool that you could press these little things down and you could hear notes come out, a sound. And that's just all that I wanted to do… I didn't understand algebra, calculus, and psychics. My brain can't compute. But music —not only the sound of it, but the way it works, the way it's written, the way it looks— was something that I've always just had a natural inclination toward. I see everything through that lens. I mean, the way I play music and all of the decisions that I make as an actor, everything comes —it's all the same brain." You don't get to this height of fame and success without a whole lot of heart, talent, and hard work. When I ask Harry what he thinks fans would be surprised to find out about him, he replies, "Maybe the amount of work that I put in to try to achieve what they see or hear. Like, you ever go to a symphony concert and you see all the violinists playing? Well, somebody has to write all those notes out. That's what I do. I'll write the words and the music…the notes for the orchestra to play and it takes a lot of time." All the music performed on HARRY is written, arranged, and orchestrated by the venerable musician. Since I'm not well-versed in the difference between an arranger and orchestrator, Harry explains it to me using a hip-hop version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" –making the sound of each instrument as he goes. "The orchestrator is the person who actually writes out the notes on the paper. The arranger is the person who comes up with how it's going to sound. The orchestrator is the person who puts that into motion. Kinda like an architect designs the house, the builder builds the house. So, I'm the architect and the builder and I live in the house," he says with a smile. How would those close to you describe you? "Probably as a hard worker. I work really, really hard, and I guess I'm a perfectionist but I'm not looking for perfection. But the path to trying to achieve that, is really important to me… It's a great responsibility for me to go out in front of people and entertain them. I mean, that's asking a lot of people to come in and watch my show here…so I want to make sure that they get the absolute best of whatever it is I'm trying to give them." Is that how you see yourself? "I also think of myself as somebody who has a lot to learn and somebody who approaches everybody with respect: You. Somebody I meet in the elevator. My wife. Listen, man, life is too short to feel like you could go it alone. You can't. There's always something to learn from somebody and we all have something to offer. We're all gifted. We're all contributors and I enjoy that. I enjoy talking to you. You're a professional. You're a great conversationalist. You're prepared. I enjoy that. I enjoy not trying to rush through things, but just sort of experiencing things as they come. I think of myself as somebody who is lucky to have my family and lucky to be alive and enjoying my life." ML Be sure to tune into HARRY, check your local listings for specific times and channels, and keep up with Harry on Instagram and Twitter @HarryConnickJr, www.facebook. com/harryconnickjr, and www.harryconnickjr.com. ON FATHERHOOD "I think as you get older, you realize it's really not about you. When you have kids, that's when it really hits you. This is about them. The point is to raise these girls into these independent strong, women who will have their own lives."