There's something effortless about Harry Connick Jr's songwriting on Every Man Should Know, which may be a side-effect of having emulated Frank Sinatra for so long: one suspects that he even has a smoke and a Scotch to hand as he's penning the slinky jazz groove “One Fine Thing” or “Being Alone”, the track on which his Sinatra phrasing pays off best, aided by Wynton Marsalis's trumpet.

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A large explosion and fire tore through a chemical plant in the US state of Louisiana today reportedly leaving at least 30 injured

Blast at Louisiana chemical plant leaves 'at least 30' injured

A large ball of flame and thick column of smoke could be seen coming from the plant

Security camera footage shows a gunman shooting into a crowd gathered for a Mother's Day second line parade in New Orleans

Police identify suspect in New Orleans Mother's Day shooting

New Orleans police have identified a suspect in connection with the shooting at a Mother's Day parade that injured 19 people, including two children.

Security camera footage shows a gunman shooting into a crowd gathered for a Mother's Day second line parade in New Orleans

New Orleans police vow to catch 'street violence' shooters of Mother's Day parade

Police in New Orleans have vowed to track down gunmen who shot 19 people at a Mother's Day parade in an attack.

Book of a lifetime: Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans, By Louis Armstrong

My parents loved the blues and early jazz, and I grew up to the sounds of Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Leadbelly and Fats Waller.

Hugh Laurie, Didn't It Rain (Warner Bros)

Album review: Hugh Laurie, Didn't It Rain (Warner Bros)

Produced again by Joe Henry, the follow-up to Let Them Talk follows a similar format of easy-rolling jazz arrangements and simpatico guest spots supporting Hugh Laurie's blues piano.

A giant alligator sits on the 14th fairway

Video: Watch as three-legged alligator crosses golf fairway in New Orleans

Golfers and caddies were left stunned when they were joined on the 14th hole by an unexpected visitor - a huge alligator.

George Jackson: Songwriter who penned hundreds of soul, rock and r'n'b tunes

George Jackson, who died in his Mississippi home on 14 April at the age of 68 after a year-long struggle against cancer, was the co-author of "Old Time Rock and Roll" and hundreds of other soul, rock and rhythm and blues tunes. Jackson recorded dozens of singles in the 1960s but made his mark as a writer, beginning with FAME Studios. He later was a songwriter for Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. When Malaco bought Muscle Shoals Sound, it hired Jackson to write songs.

Rapper Rick Ross denies his music condones rape

'It sends message that raping women is cool' - Sportswear brand Reebok criticised over ties with rapper Rick Ross

Reebok face protests from women’s rights activists over their ties with rapper Rick Ross, a rapper who appears to boast about date rape in his latest single.

Lightfoot and his New Orleans Jazzmen in 1964

Terry Lightfoot: Clarinettist and Trad jazz pioneer

Just before the advent of Beatlemania in 1963, the musical crazes were the twist and related dances from America and bright and breezy tunes from British jazz bands, known as Trad. "We can be credited with being the first band to use the word Trad", claimed Terry Lightfoot, who formed his New Orleans Jazzmen in 1955, "Starting in 1959, we made a series of extended-play records which were called Trad, More Trad, Trad Again and Still Trad. I'm surprised we didn't do a Son Of Trad as well."

Mo Farah is interviewed after winning the New Orleans half marathon

Mo Farah - polite man

And now, in nice-man news, Mo Farah has run to the defence of an interviewer ridiculed for not realising she was talking to a double Olympic champion.

WSDU news anchor LaTonya Norton speaks to little known Mo Farah

US newsreader asks Mo Farah: 'Haven't you run before...?'

Mo Farah has been asked many questions by journalists since rising to fame by winning two gold medals at the London Olympics in the 5,000m and 10,000m. But none will have been as ill-researched as those posed by LaTonya Norton of New Orleans station WDSU.

BP resigned to trial over Gulf of Mexico oil spill

BP has poured cold water on the prospects of settling a crucial court case due to begin in New Orleans on Monday that would determine its level of responsibility for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco gets his hands on the Vince Lombardi Trophy

Super Bowl: Ravens' epic triumph over San Francisco 49ers lights up Baltimore

Underdogs welcomed home today after beating the odds, 49ers' fightback and a bizarre power cut

Think America's game is up? Take a trip to New Orleans and you'll find a different story

The city was decimated by Katrina, but now it's blazing a recovery trial

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The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
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The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
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Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
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Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
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Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
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True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
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Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end