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Although this isn't a fresh release (it was re-released in 2002, however), it is new to me, and I can't resist writing a few lines about it.

Among jazz singers, Ann Hampton Callaway is distinguished by her vocal richness, her ability to hold and articulate every note. Which is just a fancy way of saying she has a beautiful voice. On This Christmas she performs a mixed set of traditional carols and modern holiday standards, slightly weighted toward the contemporary. Her vocal clarity is effective throughout (her beautiful voice blows me away on every song), but nowhere more than on Manhattan In December (her own composition, along with lyricist Lindy Robbins), a toe-tapping swing tune. Indeed, Ms. Callaway includes three original compositions. She wrote the title track, This Christmas, as a show tune for Happy Holidays. God Bless My Family was written in honor of friends lost to AIDS.

I appreciated the elegance she brought to this record, both to her own songs and to the traditionals. This CD should be of special interest to Broadway and jazz fans, but it has a crossover quality to it that should make it appeal even to the unwashed masses, such as your humble music critic.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2003)

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Ann Hampton Callaway

This Christmas

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Track List