Ann Hampton Callaway Slow CD

Personnel: Ann Hampton Callaway (vocals, background vocals); Liz Callaway (vocals, background vocals); Romero Lubambo (acoustic guitar); Rodney Jones (electric guitar); Dave Mann (saxophone); Randy Brecker (flugelhorn); Robin Eubanks (trombone); Ted Rosenthal (piano, keyboards); Victor Lewis (drums); Emedin Rivera (percussion); Everett Bradley, Jay Leonhart, Carole King (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Paul Wickliffe.
Recording information: Sound on Sound Studios, New York, NY (05/11/2004-05/13/2004).
Editor: Paul Wickliffe.
Photographers: Anna M. Sala; Bill Westmoreland.
Arrangers: Carole King; Liz Callaway; Alex Rybeck; Ann Hampton Callaway; Ted Rosenthal; Richard Rodney Bennett; Fred Hersch; Bill Mays.
The sultry, sweet-molasses voiced veteran singer/songwriter has an impressive pedigree as an entertainment Renaissance woman, with a Tony nomination for Swing!, the theme song to TV's The Nanny, and some 40 CDs as a soloist and guest artist to her credit. Best of all, she lives up to her promises, most notably, the vibe she hints at in the album title. Her goal was to make a dreamy "make out" album and she succeeds, creating a lush, moody, sparsely arranged atmosphere-rich collection of sweet originals played at very slow tempos. Those arrangements are geared towards allowing her voice to stand out and ultimately caress the listener, but the drawback is that there's not a great deal of variety in rhythm and movement from track to track. Those who love the original version of Carole King's "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" may be maddened by its languid pace (despite its shimmering beauty), but King loved it so much that she wrote the following track, the much more engaging, AC radio-accessible "Tonight You're All Mine," with Callaway co-producing and singing backup on the track. Callaway also picks up the pace to joyous effect, singing beautifully with her sister Liz (with whom she performs cabaret shows) on a lightly swinging version of "Moondance." Other familiar tracks include a thoughtful reading of Ivan Lins' "Love Dance," and "I've Dreamed of You" (Callaway's song which Barbra Streisand sang at her wedding to James Brolin and later included on three albums.) ~ Jonathan Widran