She opened her set with the Cy Coleman/Carolyn Leigh standard "The Best is Yet to Come" and Ann Hampton Callaway, in her debut at Feinstein's at the Regency, was not kidding. Two minutes later, we were getting our kicks as she went bouncing along Bobby Troup's "Route 66." Just as the aforementioned are closely identified with Tony Bennett and Nat King Cole, respectively, so are the rest of the tunes Callaway has chosen identified as "signature" songs for some of the greatest jazz and pop vocalists of our time. Callaway's strong voice and commanding technique ensure a satisfying evening. Without overdoing her keen ability to imitate the style and timbre of such legends as Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald, Callaway affectionately re-interprets "Tenderly," and "Mr. Paganini" with loving richly detailed expressiveness. Lance Bryant's sax solo lent a floating mood to the former, while Callaway's obligatory and impressive scat flavored the latter. With her extraordinary range and talent Callaway has no difficulty exemplifying either the jazz soul of Billy Holiday with the classic "Good Morning Heartache") or the melancholy mood of Frank Sinatra with "In the Wee Small Hours." Her amusingly schizophrenic approach to Annie Ross/Wardell Gray's "Twisted" and her buoyant embrace of "Pick Yourself Up" was joyously received. A duet with the mellow voiced Bryant proved a delight as they recalled the incomparable Ray Charles and Betty Carter. In full throttle for what she stakes a claim as her own "signature" song "Blues in the Night," Callaway concludes with a cleverly devised "Improvisation," that includes subjects and lyrics supplied in large part by the patrons. It's an audience pleaser, as is the patriotic "I Believe in America," a stirring anthem written by Callaway. If Callaway jokingly has to reminds us - "I am not the love-child of Lionel Hampton and Cab Calloway, she is, indeed, the love-child of every great jazz and pop legend.
Callaway's set was enhanced immeasurably by four top jazz instrumentalists.
