Blues in the Night

1	Swingin' Away the Blues 3:31
2	Blue Moon 5:40
3	Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most 6:22
4	Lover Come Back to Me 3:24
5	Stormy Weather/When the Sun Comes Out 5:14
6	The I'm-Too-White-To-Sing-The-Blues Blues 3:43
7	Willow Weep for Me 6:21
8	Hip to Be Happy 2:45
9	It's All Right with Me 5:55
10	No One Is Alone 4:35
11	Blues in the Night 4:51
12	The Glory of Love 3:08

Barnes & Noble

Experience, combined with artistic essentials including gorgeous tone and infectious rhythmic momentum, are what distinguish a vocal wannabe from a heavyweight. Ann Hampton Callaway has applied herself to the craft of singing jazz and popular standards for some two decades now –- she’s as polished a vocalist as the music is going to find. While still in the bloom of her voice, Callaway also brings a seasoned expressive approach to a song that sets her apart from the up-and-comers crowding the vocal market, singers whose youth often betrays them. On Blues in the Night Callaway surrounds herself with first-class players who reflect her own musicianly skills, among them pianist Ted Rosenthal, bassist Christian McBride, and drummers Lewis Nash and Sherrie Maricle. If this exemplary stylist in her element caressing Great American Songbook masterworks (“Willow Weep for Me,” “Blues in the Night,” “Blue Moon”) she’s equally adept at delivering her own in-the-tradition songs, which capture her sharp sense of humor (”The I'm-Too-White-to-Sing-the-Blues Blues,“ “Hip to Be Happy”). On a roll when it comes to recent recordings, Blues in the Night continues this marvelous singer’s winning streak. Steve Futterman

All Music Guide

Ann Hampton Callaway is not your typical jazz songbird. For one thing, she's an accomplished and award-winning songwriter, which is unusual in a field dominated by interpreters. But what's most surprising is her voice -- it's a low alto instrument with a rich, dark, butterscotchy tone, and when she gets way down into her lower range the effect can be downright startling. Her latest album is a pleasing mixture of originals and standards, some performed with a small combo that includes bassist Christian McBride and drummer Lewis Nash, others with the all-female Diva Jazz Orchestra. The big-band pieces pack the most wallop, which is no surprise given both the quality of the band and the fact that the arrangements were written by the great Tommy Newsom; a powerhouse rendition of her own "Swingin' Away the Blues" opens the program with a serious bang, and her small-scale but equally powerful take on the chestnut "Blue Moon" carries the energy forward nicely. The rest of the album is a mix of tender ballads and vibrant uptempo numbers, most with a theme related to the blues, either in a mood of resigned acceptance ("Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," "Willow Weep for Me") or defiant opposition (the Callaway original "Hip to Be Happy"). She imbues most of these songs with a smoldering, torchy quality that brings new energy to old material, and her new songs stand up very nicely next to the established standards. Highly recommended. Rick Anderson