Sibling Revelry
This entertaining live show from New York's Rainbow & Stars club in 1995 joins singing sisters Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway. The former is a suave jazz singer with a darker tone and sensational versatility; the latter is a clear-as-a-bell soprano best known for her late-'90s stint as Broadway's Grizabella inCats. The album is sort of a musical autobiography, as the sisters sing together as well as trace their separate artistic developments through their choices of solo numbers. Ann demonstrates her cabaret repertoire with Nancy Ford and Gretchen Cryer's heartbreaker "Old Friend," while Liz displays her Broadway background with Stephen Schwartz's glorious "Meadowlark" and Frank Loesser's tender "My Heart Is So Full of You." The two also playfully spar with snappy patter and humorous duets, the most notable being "The Huge Medley," which strings together bits from over a dozen female duets, and the theme song from TV'sThe Nanny, which Ann wrote and the sisters recorded for the opening credits. A terrific recording.--David Horiuchi