Customer Reviews

Blues in the Night

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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.

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?"
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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!

I reviewed Jackie Ryan's "Passion Flower" from 2002 with this same title. Since you're not supposed to repeat titles, I add "Part II."

Actually, the comparisons between Jackie Ryan and Ann Hampton Callaway are quite apt. Both have very rich, sultry contralto voices that could have been retrained in each case for opera. But both, although nominally jazz singers, are extremely versatile, able to sing in just about any musical idiom. Both have trained their voices, such that each has close to 3 octaves of beautiful sound. Both do wicked versions of "Lover Come Back To Me."

And both are underappreciated. I won't say underrated, because I suspect that those fans who know the work of either of these chanteusses are bowled over. But there just aren't enough of "them" in either case.

This album features Ms. Callaway in a variety of settings. She shines in all of them. Whether doing her "June Christy" bit ("Swingin' Away the Blues"), channelling her "inner Aretha" in a way to put all those "American Idol" pretenders to shame ("Blue Moon"), doing an "Ethel Waters' torch" on Johnny Mercer's torchiest song ever ("Blues in the Night"), showing off her self-deprecating humor ("Hip to Be Happy" and the tres witty "The I'm-Too-White-To-Sing-The-Blues", complete with a spot-on imitation of both a trumpet and an alto sax in the choruses), singing slowed-down, bluesy torch readings of the normally more ebullient "It's All Right With Me" and "Willow Weep For Me", or doing a terrific duet with her lighter-voiced sister, Liz ("Stormy Weather/When the Sun Comes Out"), Ms. Callaway impresses constantly.

I praised Maxjazz recently for releasing such terrific vocal jazz c.d.'s in recent times. Ditto to Telarc. Ann Hampton Callaway is a most worthy addition to a stable of such singers as Tierney Sutton, Cheryl Bentyne, Janis Siegel and Tony Desare. I missed Ms. Callaway's "Slow" from 2 years ago. I can't get to everything on time, but this is an omission I shall soon remedy. RC

This latest offering from gifted singer/songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway is a true gem. Her voice is smooth and gloriously textured - reminiscent of Sarah Vaughan and Cleo Laine. This CD is put together to show off her phemonenal range, scatting skills, and simply gorgeous sound. She will tug at your heart with the haunting Sondheim ballad "No One Is Alone," make you smile with her own "Hip to Be Happy," marvel at her sound on Cole Porter's "It's All Right With Me," and shiver with pure musical joy with her passionate, stunning rendition of the Mercer/Arlen standard "Blues in the Night." Whether you're a fan of great jazz or simply of great performances, this CD is a must have.

Friday, November 20, 2009, she was a featured artist at Johnny Mercer's Centennial celebration at Carnegie Hall, and almost blew the roof off singing his Blues In The Night! The audience was on their feet cheering. Standing Room Only, this 2 hour tribute to this great American's talent and music legacy, was special beyond belief, but made more so by her incredible voice. I wish they had recorded the entire program on a CD so everyone could hear the music and voices from that special night. She is a national treasure.

"Frisky and fun, yet intimate and introspective - truly offers something for everyone. Really strong album!!" ~ The Chronicle ~

Picture Ann Hampton Callaway "swingin' away the blues" with the best sidemen in the jazz world, bassist Christian McBride, guitarist David Gilmore, pianist Ted Rosenthal and drummer Lewis Nash, along with special guests Liz Callaway and Sherrie Maricle with the Diva Jazz Orchestra - what do you expect? An album so worthy to the auditory sense of any jazz enthusiast.

Recorded in 2006 in New York City under Telarc Records, "Blues In The Night" is one superb album that can command the listening ears of music lovers with their utmost concentration and undivided attention. Ms. Callaway is one of the few female jazz stylists who have built a reputation in vocal jazz genre. She's one of the most remarkable jazz artists of today who can truly sing, swing and scat like no other. It is her trademark and her very own inimitable style. Whether she's swinging to her very own composition "Swingin' Away The Blues" or sincerely emoting bluesy "Blue Moon" or sadly singing "Willow Weep For Me," she does it with flying colors.

One of the best tracks is a medley she sung with her equally talented sister, Liz Callaway, "Stormy Weather"/"When The Sun Comes Out." On all the tracks, her renditions are very engaging and full of zest, and the musicianship is simply sublime. Listen closely to what she was able to do with the title track, "Blues In The Night," she interprets it with heartfelt emotion making it one of the most powerful versions ever recorded.

When it comes to the most impressive voices in jazz, the name Ann Hampton Callaway will always be on the top stratum. It does not matter what kind of song she interprets - ballad, swing or blues, she can do it effortlessly and flawlessly.

An engagingly remarkable album from start to finish. With my heartfelt recommendation.

Ann Hampton Callaway is one of my favorite "divas," so my review is naturally and unashamedly biased. I have never been disappointed with a CD or a performance by this remarkable woman. With this CD she demonstrates that she is equally as skilled with blues as she is with jazz. I have had the good fortune of seeing Ms. Callway perform live (most recently in Philadelphia at Zanzibar Blue) and, when you see her perform live, your emotions soar and she seamlessly weaves pop, jazz, cabaret...and now blues. Adore A.H.C. and you can't go wrong! As it says on her website, "Ann Hampton Callaway is an inspiring and maverick spirit in the entertainment world."

This truly is on of my favorite albums of the year! Ms. Callaway's voice is simply timeless. Her interpretation of "Blues in the Night," showcases the passion behind her voice and reminds us why we should think twice when dealing with men ;) This album also sets high standards with Ms. Callaway's lyrics, arrangements and interpretations

Perfect gift!
Pedro

I heard of Ann Hampton Calloway some years back as she was playing Manhattan cabarets. I never really listened carefully when I ran across her work, but this CD made me sit up and take notice. She has a strong, unique voice and style. Her "Too White to Sing the Blues, Blues" is so much more than a novelty song. It is funny, it is bluesy, it is captivating. Her "Blue Moon," is the best version of this standard that I've heard. I never particularly liked that song, until I heard Ms. Calloway's rendition. Super CD.