Customer Reviews

Signature

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My, this woman has the loveliest (non-bel canto) and richest contralto voice this side of Sarah Vaughan. Its so sexy and warm and fuzzy and cozy and ...sheesh, just plain lovely -- I'm hooked and crazy over that voice! I first heard of her when the late great Ella Fitzgerald died and she did this incredibly swing-y tribute album called "For Ella" (although she did the album before Ella died even if the album came out a month after Ella's demise).

The present album is a homage to her musical heroes from Ella to Betty Carter to Louis Armstrong to Annie Ross among others. And can she sing! Her schizo take of Annie Ross' "Twisted" ably supported by the New York Voices is outstanding. She added additional lyrics to this lovely Annie Ross song that is actually a vocalese version of Wardell Gray's intrumental version. The way Ann caressed the lyrics in "Tenderly" reminds you of the great cabaret singer Andrea Marcovicci. Both women sing the song with a great heart. I can't recommend this album enough, you should hear this to believe it. If you like less helium voices, this woman has the chops. Trust me.

Having heard Ann Hampton Callaway's tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, when Signature was released, I didn't have my usual reservations about buying a "tribute" album. I'm happy to report that my confidence paid off for me. Ms. Callaway doesn't give us a "Billie Holiday song" and a "Sarah Vaughan song" and a "Louis Armstrong song." Rather, she gives us a CD of songs, sung only the way Ann can sing them, and she uses those songs to tell the listener how much admiration and love she has for the original artist. For me, it's exactly what a "tribute" album should be. And it's another amazing CD from the phenomenal artist that is Ann Hampton Callaway. I would love to name which songs are highlights for me, but I love them all. "Mr. Paganini" is a real standout, but I truly love all the songs on this CD.

Ann Hampton Callaway is a gifted artist, who knows how to use her voice to the max! To the naysayers of this CD who say she needs to find her own style, the CD is called Signature for a reason, get it?
This is a CD I really enjoy listening to, not only Ann Hampton Callaway's voice, but all these classic songs done superbly!
Can't wait to hear "Signature2", I'll be waiting in line or on-line!

Ms. Hampton Callaway has come out of the gate with this brilliantly executed tribute to singers who have influenced her superb vocal style (Ella, Frank, Mel, Sarah, Anita...the list goes on).

She's ably supported by a crew of New York's finest jazz/pop sidemen (including the incomparable Wynton), and the ab fab New York Voices (whose album "Hearts of Fire" is in my library). Her choice of songs is first-rate, from uptempo to ballad.

For those of you came away with a negative opinion the first time out, I recommend that you give this one another listen. Congratulations Ann on a fantastic outing...I can't give this one just five stars!!!

I'll admit I've always had problems with performances that are tributes to other performances, but Ann's focus is as much on the material as on the influential performer. This album is a thoughtfully programmed and carefully produced labor of love with impressive musicianship on the parts of the vocalist as well as a luminous supporting cast of jazz stars, ranging from Wynton Marsalis to Freddie Cole and the New York Voices. All the same, the performances don't engage me as much as those on some other Callaway recordings. A tune like "Kiss to Build a Dream On" wears like a comfortable old shoe, but it's still a matter of finding the right foot. Ann's voice contains a kind of dramatic urgency that realizes its full potential, it strikes me, on a complex, poignant Rodgers & Hart ballad. Still, given its polish and variety, this album may be the best introduction to a gifted and compelling, if not virtuosic, singer for the majority of listeners. Ann deserves a larger, jazz-specific base of listeners. I sense that as yet she has not been afforded as much recognition as Cassandra, Karyn, Nnena, etc. A "live" club-date album with a swinging and supportive piano trio followed by a tour might help change that.

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

Ann Hampton Callaway brings back those dark and passionate nights when Raymond Chandler's mean streets were filled tough guys in slouch hats listening to smokey singers crooning tales of busted luck and broken hearts. Callaway's rich alto would blow the fog out of their battered heads. Whether she's torching on Tenderly or swinging on Route 66 this frail lights up the night. And when her range and skill get a real work out, she blows like no one since Ella. Mr. Pacanini swings it. Beg, borrow or steal this CD

Another wonderful recording from one of our greatest living jazz singers. She doesn't attempt to imitate the vocal stylings of each of the greats that she pays homage to, but every now and then you can hear their influence...especially on "Tenderly" (Sarah Vaughn). Her rendition of "Is that All There Is" doesn't quite hit the mark...but then who has ever matched the plaintative delivery of Peggy Lee. Great takes on "Twisted", "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", and "Route 66" among others.

I really cannot understand the negative reviews written by some of the reviewers of this CD. In all honesty, I think it takes a certain age and maturity to really appreciate Ann Callaway's voice and attack. I cannot also understand the claim that she "forged" singers in this CD. In the liner notes, she mentioned that she is in awe of the talent of the songs' orginators. Righfully so, but it doesnt take the fact that REAL listeners of jazz would be at awe at Ann Callaway's tremendous talent.

Her take on songs like "Tenderly", "For All We Know", and all the other slow songs in this CD is simply fabulous. How her voice easily shifts from low notes to the high range is simply fantastic. Also, it takes a lot of talent to perform with the likes of Wynton Marsallis.

Her playful tracks like "Mr. Paganini", the tragi-comic "is that all there is?" is complete. The story telling is simple, but very precise.

A very memorable track, and a surprising one, is "For All We Know". She really connects with the song.

Jazz CDs like this is not readily available in the Philippines. I am very glad to be given this CD as a gift. It is really one of the best jazz CDs i have ever heard. A refreshing break from the usual marketing strategy made by record labels in the Philippines, claiming some singers to be jazz performers when in fact they are not!!! Ann Hampton Callaway is the REAL THING!!!

This album is amazing. I heard Ann in person last fall in Hollywood and she did most of these songs in concert- this album captures all that and more. The arrangements, the musicians, the perfect engineering and capturing of her music- and Ann's phenomenal vocal talent add up to many MANY hours of listening to this CD over and over.And Sarah Vaughn is up there smiling somewhere - when she hears Ann's opener "Tenderly" in tribute to her. Miss Callaway has obviously spent MANY HOURS listening to, and soaking in the greatness of the artists she pays tribute to here. It shows.....