1. Swingin' Away the Blues
2. Blue Moon
3. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
4. Lover Come Back to Me
5. Stormy Weather/When the Sun Comes Out
6. I'm-Too-White-To-Sing-The-Blues Blues
7. Willow Weep for Me
8. Hip to Be Happy
9. It's All Right with Me
10. No One Is Alone
11. Blues in the Night
12. The Glory of Love
Ann Hampton Callaway – Vocals
Ted Rosenthal - Piano
Sherrie Maricle & the Diva Jazz Orchestra
(tracks 1, 4, 6, 11)
Christian McBride – Bass (tracks 2, 3, 5,
7-10, 12)
Lewis Nash – Drums (tracks 2, 3, 5, 7-10,
12)
Anat Cohen – Tenor sax (tracks 2, 3, 10)
David Gilmore – Guitar (tracks 2, 5, 12)
Jami Dauber – Trumpet (tracks 3, 10)
Liz Callaway – Vocals (track 5)
Ann
Hampton Callaway is better known in the US
than in Britain but perhaps this album will
change things. She’s not only a good singer
but a songwriter who has composed material
for the likes of Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli
and Karrin Allyson. Three tracks here – Swingin’
Away the Blues, The I’m-Too-White-to-Sing-the-Blues
Blues and Hip to be Happy – are
Callaway compositions, which all have the
"cool" feel typical of songs by
Dave Frishberg or Blossom Dearie.
The
rest of the repertoire comes from the Great
American Songbook, including an emotional
performance of Blue Moon, a tearaway
version of Lover Come Back to Me, and
an unusually slow interpretation of It’s
All Right With Me. Ann’s singing sometimes
comes across as too determinedly hip, but
she sings well in tune and with feeling for
each song. Drummer Sherrie Maricle’s all-girl
band and a small group led by pianist Ted
Rosenthal supply sympathetic backings, making
for a very pleasant album. In a world seemingly
overflowing with female singers, this CD may
not be an essential purchase but it’s a worthwhile
one.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
for
details
Telarc CD
83641 
