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Ann Hampton Callaway 'To Ella With Love' Playhouse Sat 11 June I was never a fan of the television series 'The Nanny', but when forced to watch, one thing I did like was the catchy theme song with the sassy New York lyrics. I always thought the performer was Janis Siegel from the Manhattan Transfer. Wrong! It turns out the song was written and sung by Ann Hampton Callaway. However, the Chicago born but New York based Callaway is far more than her 'hit' as she described it during her show 'To Ella With Love', one of two shows that Callaway has brought to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The show is an hour's journey through a selection of Fitzgerald standards from the Great American Songbook- featuring amongst others - Arlen, Gershwin and Ellington. However, this was no mimicry: after beginning with sharp impressions of Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, Callaway sang Gershwin's Embraceable You in a graceful style that was purely her own- and then it just got better. Like Ella, Callaway scatted on Mr Paganini and How High The Moon - a bit gentler with less pyrotechnics. She was sultry and romantic on the slower ballads In A Sentimental Mood and Body And Soul, building to a ballsy rendition of Arlen's Blues In The Night which brought the house down. Callaway was ably complemented by the mostly reed and horn section of the Adelaide Art Orchestra. Indeed, the solos were so impressive that it appeared like they had been playing with her for years. There are many female jazz singers who claim to be disciples following in the footsteps of the 'big four' - Fitzgerald, Holiday, Vaughan and McRae. However, with her musicality, technique and pure heart, Callaway is the cream of the flock.  |
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