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
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
Frank Wess
turn in a number of understated solos; the vocal group
New York Voices
does some nice horn-section simulation on
"Route 66"
"Twisted."
~ David R. Adler