Review: Ann Hampton Callaway's Ardent BUT BEAUTIFUL Thrills Birdland

I don't know when Ann Hampton Callaway started this chapter of her life, but she's emphatically in a new one. The artist savors every note, propelled headlong into her songs with uncommon exuberance. Signature authority extends not only to stellar scat but to enacting selected material.

Accompanied by The Ted Rosenthal Trio (Ted Rosenthal, piano; Martin Wind, bass; Tim Horner, drums), Callaway shines luminous at Birdland (where I saw her latest show Wednesday night and which continues for two more shows Friday and Saturday night at 8:30 and 11 pm). "Since spring has not quite arrived, we've put together a bouquet . . . " Indeed, weather inside is suddenly unlike New York's cold, rainy night.

"Let's Get Lost" (Jimmy McHugh/Frank Loesser) foresees joint adventure. It's a clear, open-throated, swingin' down the lane interpretation rather than the misty suggestion so often delivered. Bass and drums have a side conversation. Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II's

"All the Things You Are" is relished. Callaway moves side to side, shifting in her chiffon. Serendipitous scat is punctuated by "Everybody!," a wry invitation to join the complex deployment of notes we can't possibly anticipate. She's like a good skier. Whoosh!

"The Folks Who Live on the Hill" (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II) is dedicated to someone in the audience. Eeeeasy brushes, light bass, caressed piano, and phrasing like long sighs signify the precisely drawn number. We'll be pleased to be called--a millisecond of contentment--the folks on the hill . . . she sings. The word "veranda" emerges shaped like a hammock.

An appreciation of Bill Evans includes three songs for which he was known. "Never Let Me Go" (Jay Livingston/Ray Evans) drifts in on tender piano. Callaway reflects, questions, imagines. There's a hint of anxiety in the prospect. You'd never leave me-pause--would you . . . is spoken, rather than sung, adding gravitas. Bass is eloquent as is Ted Rosenthal's arrangement.

A highlight of the show, "Here's That Rainy Day" (Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Burke, and beautifully arranged by Mike Abene) exudes the kind of pain that inexorably gets under one's skin. Vocal is a buttery, mournful horn, a silhouette on a fire escape. Funny, she mutters, that rainy day is here. When Callaway personifies wounded, she's never fully crushed. We feel resistant strength making lyrics her own. In her hands, this is a stunning jazz aria.

This evening's title song, "But Beautiful" (Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Burke) enters somewhere between anthem and prayer. "This is the essence of how I look at life, the performer tells us, "It reminds me of a book of photos I discovered as a little girl called In Spite of Everything, Yes" (Ralph Steiner 1986). We believe she believes every word. Even when the song becomes mid-tempo swing, its luxuriant arrangement and invested performance compel. A fine bowed bass solo finds Martin Wind quietly scatting.

Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things," one of several bouncy numbers, unexpectedly appears to be an exorcism, rather than an insouciant shrug. Rosenthal takes off, jumping, while not losing sight of the tracks. I think the musician must have more joints in his fingers than the rest of us. He seems to be able to hit, pat, stroke, and burnish with remarkable speed and clarity.

Once upon a time/Before I took up smiling/I hated the moonlight! . . . We end with a rendition of Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart's "Blue Moon," which one might call controlled detonation. The word 'blue' is seven syllables. It's as if Callaway is wrestling with the orb. Following a "Diva Blessing"--her invocation of love for us all--it takes on a rather ancient, ceremonial hue. Feelings unleashed, the artist expands into the room, ferociously addressing life. Music fills not just her rib cage and lungs, but ours.

Birdland: 315 West 44th St., New York, NY, 10036. Please call 212-581-3080 for reservations. http://birdlandjazz.com/

Photos by Maryann Lopinto

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