Harry Connick Jr. is a man of many talents: singer, actor, composer, piano player, raconteur. Most of his talents were revealed in his return to the Aronoff Center's Procter & Gamble Hall Sunday night in a show that proved it's one thing to have talent, another to know how to use it.

        Mr. Connick was backed by a terrific 15-piece orchestra, but the band didn't get the workout it should have. They swung and burned for about half of Mr. Connick's two-hour set; gimmicky musical exercises and failed experiments filled up the rest of the time.

        There weren't many kids to be seen in the sold-out room, but that didn't stop Mr. Connick from busting out the kiddie tunes. Songs I Heard, a children's album, is Mr. Connick's latest release, and he played several tunes from it. It seems with the album he's trying to play simultaneously to the kids and to the martini swillers. He gave the Mary Poppins tune “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” a Mardi Gras mambo beat. The title has a sort of Rat Pack hipster-speak quality, but the song isn't big band fodder.

        He did a little better with an instrumental take on“Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead” from The Wizard of Oz and a nugget straight from Sammy Davis Jr.'s songbook, “The Candy Man.”

        Mr. Connick also put his stamp on a couple of Christmas carols, done solo on piano with no vocals. “Winter Wonderland” became a schmaltzy New Orleans piano roll number, and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” was an angular, busy hodgepodge of styles. It would have been more interesting to hear what the band could have done with them.

        However, the seasonal segment topped Mr. Connick's “cutting contest,” as he called it, with guitarist Jonathan Dubose. Mr. Dubose would play an intricate 20-second piece, and Mr. Connick would mimic it on piano. The first time it was clever. As they continued, it felt like filler.

        It sure didn't beat a good song. The duo's take on “Over the Rainbow,” with Mr. Connick's warm vocals and Mr. Dubose's clean electric guitar tone, was one non-swinging, low-key highlight.

        The other was Mr. Connick's story about eating Cincinnati-style earlier in the day. His description of a visit to Graeter's (he's a big fan) followed by a trip to Skyline (he's not so sure) got the biggest response out of the crowd all night.

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