Ann Hampton Callaway at Chris' Jazz Café

Getting cozy

Her banter proved deliciously flirtatious from the start, establishing an easy rapport with the audience. “If you’re sitting next to someone you love, try to be gentle,” she cooed, sidling up to the Steinway. “And if you’re sitting next to a stranger, sit a little closer.” The evening launched with a rendition of “Come Rain or Come Shine” which, if not exactly groundbreaking, served the tune well.

Things started cooking with Callaway’s second song, the innuendo-laden “Teach Me Tonight.” Her wine-dark alto relished Sammy Cahn’s sultry lyrics, while she pounded out the piano part with relaxed confidence. Without missing a beat, she segued into a plaintive “Autumn Leaves” rife with blue notes, which grew more up-tempo as it reached its conclusion.

Callaway’s album and her set focused squarely on music of the 1930s and ‘40s — a time, she said, when “music transformed the dampened spirits of the people.” She frequently drew comparisons to our current moment in history, suggesting the storied songs of yore could still serve as a balm in our own troubled times. When she playfully sang “You Turned the Tables on Me” as though not a care existed in the world, I couldn’t help but agree.

Modern master

But the evening didn’t dwell in darkness. Callaway is perhaps best known for composing the theme song to the 1990s sitcom The Nanny — “what my accountant calls my finest work to date,” she said with a wink. Between numbers by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen, she spun out the anthem of “the flashy girl from Flushing,” inviting the audience to sing along. She also offered a dead-on vocal impression of the show’s star, Fran Drescher, that had most of the room gasping with laughter.

Callaway’s musical prowess extends beyond television jingles. She boasted of being the only person ever to collaborate with Cole Porter as a composer — she set one of his unpublished lyrics to music, earning the favor of his estate, which granted her publication rights. “I Gaze in Your Eyes,” a tender ballad written for Porter’s younger male lover, sounded as musically rewarding as any of the great wit’s best songs.

On the whole, the evening offered an experience that’s become regrettably rare in Philadelphia — an authentic night of vocal jazz presented by a modern master. The intimate and inviting Chris’ Jazz Café, tucked away just off Broad Street, proved the perfect spot for such a performance. It doesn’t hurt that the bar mixes a strong Manhattan and the kitchen turns out surprisingly tasty entrees, never a guarantee in music venues. (I recommend the Ella Fitzgerald, a grilled-chicken sandwich with balsamic onions and smoked mozzarella cheese).

But at the end of the day, you come to a club for the star, and Callaway delivered. She closed the evening with perhaps the most famous movie song of all time: “Over the Rainbow,” sung a cappella with only the slightest vocal embellishment. If her mission was to lift spirits, it worked; she sent mine soaring.