Ann Hampton Callaway - Signature
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CD Details
Artist: Ann Hampton CallawayEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-03-22
Music Label: Shanachie
Soundtracks:
- Tenderly
- You Turned The Tables On Me
- Route 66
- A Kiss To Build A Dream On
- The Best Is Yet To Come
- For All We Know
- Mr. Paganini
- In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
- Is That All There Is?
Music reviews of Signature
Music Review: It's not "Slow", but it is Ann Hampton Callaway
Rating: 5 Stars
In 2004 Ann Hampton Callaway released "Slow." 2004 was an exceptionally good year overall, and for my money, "Slow" was the second-best c.d. of that year (to Andy Bey's "American Song", IMO).
This c.d. was recorded in 2001, but not released until 2005, on the heels of "Slow". As the c.d. title suggests, it is a 12-song tribute to probably the 12 finest jazz singers in history (and no tribute to Mark Murphy, dammit! What's that all about?!).
That's an idea that has been done so many times, that the c.d. couldn't possibly be as good as "Slow."
But it is being sung by Ann Hampton Callaway. She simply has one of the finest voices in all of contemporary non-classical music, and is one of the most versatile singers around. Quite frankly, I think Ms. Callaway could pull off opera more easily than Renee Fleming can pull of cabaret!
And, at times this c.d. is brilliant, although it tries achingly hard to be so.
Take "Pick Yourself Up," track 12 and Ms. Callaway's tribute to Mel Torme. Here she does a riff on J.S. Bach, making me recall the brilliance of Mel and George Shearing on "Lullaby of Birdland." Only she sings to us what she's doing and why, before she does it, then does it almost ad nauseum. But she does throw in a quote from "Rue Brittania" in there--just as the Velvet Fog used to do.
Or take "Twisted", track 10, her tribute to Annie Ross. With the backup of The New York Voices, she and they do vocalese on top of vocalese, and make the arrangement even more spectacular than the Lambert, Hendricks & Ross original. But they end it all with the trite gag, "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, I'm schizophrenic and so am I." That was funny the first time I heard it, years ago.
My biggest objection is to Ms. Callaway's tribute to Peggy Lee. The song is fine, but the monologue doesn't fit the tone of the song. Honestly, I can't think of any 9-year-old girl who would witness her house burning down, and respond, "Is That All There Is?"!
But some of the rest of this is just plain brilliant. Ms. Callaway sounds at her best on the opener, "Tenderly," a signature song of Sarah Vaughan, and reminds us that she is this generation's answer to Sassy in terms of voice richness quality. But she also shows her versatility in her tribute to Ella, in the too-seldom-covered "Mr. Paganini." I can't think of any other singer who could riff on both Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald as well as Ann Hampton Callaway can.
I'm at 4 and 1/2. I'm tempted to go 4, basically to emphasize the brilliance of "Slow." But, I gotta go 5. It's Ann Hampton Callaway, after all, It's not that she can do no wrong; it's that, when she does right, nobody does it better. RC
Description of Signature
Over the past few years, Ann Hampton Callaway has evolved from a top cabaret singer (e.g., Sibling Revelry, her brilliant collaboration with sister Liz Callaway) into an ever-improving jazz one. As she got over her eager-puppy?like tendency to overdo it (her scatting was often just too much), this wonderful album shows she's finally learned that simplicity is the hardest trick to master, but also the most rewarding. Backed by the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Baron, Frank Wess, and Lewis Nash, Callaway goes over a series of standards associated with Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, and, of course, Ella Fitzgerald (Callaway once made an album titled To Ella with Love). Despite such a tricky endeavor, Callaway puts her stamp on these songs. A newfound velvety smoothness and casual sense of ease to her voice are both enchanting. Not only is Signature Callaway's finest achievement yet, it's also one of the year's best jazz vocal records. --Elisabeth VincentelliTraditional Vocal Pop CDs
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