Blues in the Night

Ann Hampton Callaway | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 22, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000GI3SVO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,569 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

On this album, jazz-cabaret singer-songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway pays tribute to her hometown Chicago's best-known musical export, the blues—-though her take is largely devoid of that genre's pared-down grit, instead exploring two of its offshoots: a sophisticated, elusive melancholy and upbeat, horn-heavy swing jazz. Callaway's penchant for the latter is evidenced by the jumping opening track, "Swingin' Away the Blues" and the percolating "Lover Come Back to Me" (on which she integrates her trademark scat singing). A "blue" mood is evoked on, for instance, "Blue Moon" and a not-entirely-convincing take on Sondheim's "No One Is Alone." But Callaway is also among the rare performers in the cabaret scene to write some of her own material, and she obliges here as well, with good results on the humorous "The I'm-Too-White-to-Sing-the-Blues Blues" (on which she emulates brass instruments) and "Hip to Be Happy." --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Product Description

Callaway’s new album is a dynamic and stirring collection of American Songbook classics, mixed with potent and witty original songs. The recording contains several jazz standards, but with arrangements and interpretations that are far from standard.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The CD I've been waiting for., August 28, 2006

By 

Little Jazz Bird (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blues in the Night (Audio CD)

This is the CD where it all comes together for Ann Hampton Callaway. Finally a CD that captures the ebullience and daring of her thrilling live performances. The CDs opening trumpet riff is a herald, a sexy how do you do, announcing that something fabulous has indeed arrived. The first track SWINGING AWAY THE BLUES had me dancing in my chair and by the second time around I was singing along with the catchy hook. Hard to believe this is a Callaway original tune. It has the feeling of a familiar chestnut.
Tommy Newsom's (yes, THAT Tommy Newsom) big band arrangements swing effortlessly and the Diva Jazz Orchestra plays with brass and sass. But isn't this BLUES IN THE NIGHT? I thought I was going to hear a disc full of woe. I think this CD is more about longing than it is about actual sadness. AHC has an unerring sense of taste and her readings are always intelligent and sophisticated. Callaway takes the familiar swing format and bends it until it's blue on the big band numbers. With trio (Ted Rosenthal, Lewis Nash & Christian McBride) she sings with warmth and sensuality on numbers like IT'S ALL RIGHT WITH ME and SPRING CAN REALLY HANG YOU UP THE MOST.
Parts of this CD come back to me throughout the day and I can't wait to hit the start button again. I found it especially enjoyable on the car stereo. Hip Hip Hooray!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best New Release - 2006, September 2, 2006

By 

S. Martin "Round Midnight" (Central Coast, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blues in the Night (Audio CD)

Another gem from AHC, diva. It's no wonder she's won NYC's own "American Idol for the Pros" (the MAC Award) an astonishing 14 times! Miss Callaway's recently released "Blues in the Night" gifts listeners with an impressive range of songs encompassing depth and breadth of the human experience.
She has, to say the Least, mastered vocal performance. Her magnificent vocal quality, interpretations, phrasing, intonation, time and choices are always spot on. Her range is, as the youngsters say, sick. Just a few of the highlights of this project are Cole Porter's "It's All Right With Me," Stephen Sondheim's "No One Is Alone," as well as several new AHC originals! And, the hauntingly beautiful "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most."
The title cut gives those of us who didn't get to see her Tony-nominated performance in "Swing" a chance to dig "Blues in the Night" over and over again. And speaking of Broadway...the duet here with sister, Broadway favorite Liz Callaway, rates a Bravo-Standing-Ovation after each listening. This CD recharges the soul's spirit, so often chipped away by day-to-day challenges and, of course, the blues.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HELLO, GRAMMY!!, November 17, 2006

By 

Robert J. Canning "thewriteguy" (Petaluma, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blues in the Night (Audio CD)

This is Callaway's finest achievement -- and there have been many. It came out last summer, but talk about the bloom still on the rose five months later (11/21/06)!

Her soulful rendition of "Blue Moon" and the title track will remind you of "Dreamgirls"' Effie White (who says white girls can't wail?), she doubles your pleasure with sister Liz Callaway on a sensational "Stormy Weather/When the Sun Comes Out" medley, and her "It's All Right with Me" may have you asking, "Norah Who?"
"
She'll also have you laughing and swinging over her own witty composition, "The I'm-Too-White-To-Sing-The Blues Blues," and then turn around and break your heart with a wondrous rendition of Sondheim's hymnlike "No One Is Alone" that even the great Cleo Laine would envy.

If she doesn't get Grammified for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, the Grammy voters should be assassinated. This is a classic album!