Ann Hampton Callaway Signature CD

Personnel: Ann Hampton Callaway (vocals); Freddy Cole, New York Voices (vocals); Rodney Jones (guitar); Daniel Block (clarinet); Frank Wess (alto saxophone); Wynton Marsalis (trumpet); Kenny Barron (piano); Ben Wolfe (double bass); Lewis Nash (drums).
On her seventh album, a varied collection of standards and novelty numbers, Ann Hampton Callaway is joined once again by jazz heavyweights: Kenny Barron on piano, Rodney Jones on guitar, Ben Wolfe on bass, and Lewis Nash (or Neal Smith) on drums. Callaway's voice falls somewhere between jazz and Broadway, which can be a liability on weighty ballads like "Good Morning, Heartache" and "For All We Know" (Freddy Cole joins her on the latter). But her feel for swing is convincing ("You Turned the Tables on Me," "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," "The Best Is Yet to Come") and her scatting is seasoned and adroit ("Mr. Paganini," the elaborate "Pick Yourself Up"). Wynton Marsalis and Frank Wess turn in a number of understated solos; the vocal group New York Voices does some nice horn-section simulation on "Route 66" and "Twisted." ~ David R. AdlerJazzTimes (5/02, p.151) - "...Never before has she sounded more like [Jo] Stafford, right down to the iciness that too often invaded Jo's ballads....the balance of the album is marvelous..."