Ann Hampton Callaway

Ann Hampton Callaway
Birth name Ann Hampton Callaway
Born (1958-05-30) May 30, 1958
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres Vocal jazz
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Years active 1991–present
Labels DRG, Sin-Drome, Denon, Capitol, Shanachie, Telarc, MCG Jazz
Associated acts Liz Callaway
Website www.annhamptoncallaway.com

Ann Hampton Callaway (born May 30, 1958) is a multiplatinum-selling singer, composer, lyricist, pianist, and actress. She is known for writing and singing the theme song to the TV series The Nanny, writing songs for Barbra Streisand, and starring in the Broadway musical Swing!.

Musical career

Callaway's mother, Shirley, is a singer, pianist, and coach. Her father, John, was a journalist.[1] Her sister, Liz, is a Broadway actress. They were raised in Chicago, Illinois, and attended New Trier High School in Wilmette.[2][1] The Callaway sisters have performed with their mother onstage.

The Cole Porter Estate officially recognizes Ann Hampton Callaway as the only composer to have collaborated with Cole Porter, having set her music to his posthumously discovered lyric, "I Gaze in Your Eyes". It was first recorded by Callaway for Ben Bagley's Cole Porter Revisited series. Later, the song was recorded by Elaine Paige and was featured in the West End musical A Swell Party. Callaway was one of the creators of the Broadway musical Swing!, writing "Two and Four" as well as lyrics to the standards in the Tony- and Grammy-nominated score.

She has recorded and performed the award-winning show Sibling Revelry with her sister Broadway star Liz Callaway. She is known for singing songs from The Great American Songbook. Callaway's albums include Blues in the Night, At Last, Slow, Holiday Pops!, This Christmas, Signature, Easy Living, To Ella with Love, After Ours, Bring Back Romance, and Sibling Revelry. She has been a guest on over 40 albums.

Callaway's music and lyrics have been performed and recorded by Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Michael Feinstein, Blossom Dearie, Peter Nero, Karrin Allyson, Donna McKechnie, Harvey Fierstein, Lillias White, Barbara Carrol, Amanda McBroom, Liz Callaway and Carole King.

She composed "At the Same Time" for Barbra Streisand and that recording, Higher Ground, debuted nationally at No. 1, giving Callaway her first platinum record. Streisand asked her to write lyrics to a Rolf Lovland melody which she entitled "I've Dreamed of You" which Streisand sang to James Brolin at their wedding. The song was later recorded on her album, A Love Like Ours, released as a single, and selected for the album, The Essential Barbra Streisand. Streisand performed both songs on her live double album, Timeless. She chose Callaway's song "A Christmas Lullaby" for her holiday CD, Christmas Memories.

In 2011, Callaway was described by The New York Times as a jazz-cabaret singer who "smolders more than she sizzles."[3]

In addition to the theme for The Nanny, she has written the TV themes for Day's End, Cabaret Beat, and The Jim J and Tammy Fay Show. She composed incidental music for the David Weiner play, Baltimore Star and her song "Manhattan in December" was included in the 2005 off-Broadway musical revue A Broadway Diva Christmas.

Her voice has been heard in numerous TV jingles and voice-overs including spots for Coca Cola, Ethan Allen and State Farm. Ann has also done extensive broadcasting for Sirius Satellite Radio as a performer, DJ and interviewer. Ann recently appeared in Robert DeNiro's movie The Good Shepherd, was heard on the soundtrack of Queen Latifah's Last Holiday and was featured in the role of Mrs. White in the award winning film Volare for Jim Henson Productions, directed by Temela D'Amico.

She produced Singer's Spotlight With Ann Hampton Callaway featuring Liza Minnelli and Christine Ebersole. She has performed on The Today Show, Larry King Live, The Charlie Rose Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and ABC News. She starred in Midnight Swing for the PBS television special Live from Lincoln Center and was featured in another PBS special with Keith Lockhart and Boston Pops. She has also performed for the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular and has made two appearances on NBC's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. She appeared at the Vail Jazz Festival in 2010.[4]

Awards and honors

Callaway's honors include a Tony Award nomination for "Best Featured Actress in a Musical" for her work in Swing! and winning the Theatre World Award for "Outstanding Broadway Debut". She has garnered fifteen MAC Awards from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs, two Backstage Bistro Awards, The 2005 Nightlife Award, the Johnny Mercer Songwriter Award and the Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking. In 2015, she was nominated with her sister Liz for a BroadwayWorld.com Award for their show Sibling Revelry.

She performed for U.S. President Bill Clinton in Washington, D.C. and was the invited guest performer for Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's Youth Peace Summit in Moscow in 1988.[5]

Charity

In September 2005, Callaway performed her original composition "Let the Saints Come Marching", written to honor Hurricane Katrina victims, on a national TV broadcast on the Fox News Channel. Her song "Who can see the Blue the Same Again?" was released earlier in 2005 as a single paying tribute to the tsunami survivors and raising much needed money for The Tsunami Fund of the PRASAD Project.

In the aftermath of September 11th, Callaway composed "I Believe in America", which she performed on Larry King Live and released as a CD single. Just days after the tragedy, she heard an 8,000-year-old prayer from the Rigveda and composed "Let Us Be United". She recorded the song with Kenny Werner, the Siddha Yoga International Choir and five-year-old Sonali Beaven, who sang in honor of her father who lost his life on Flight 93. It was released on CD and DVD and its proceeds continue to benefit Save the Children and the PRASAD Project.

Discography

References

  1. 1 2 Reich, Howard (June 20, 2000). "She Did It Her Way: Ann Hampton Callaway Makes It To Broadway On Her Own Terms". Chicago Tribune. New York. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Award-winning Broadway actress and singer Liz Callaway to perform with New Trier Choir-Opera on April 26". newtrier.k12.il.us. New Trier High School. April 26, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Jazz Listings". The New York Times. 2011-03-05. Retrieved 2011-03-05. Ann Hampton Callaway (Tuesday through Thursday) At Last (Telarc) is the most recent album from the jazz-cabaret singer Ann Hampton Callaway, who smolders more than she sizzles. She appears with an ace rhythm section composed of the pianist Bill Cunliffe, the bassist Peter Washington and the drummer Tim Horner.
  4. ↑ "Vail Jazz Festival". DownBeat.com. 2010. Retrieved 2011-03-05. Lineup: Jimmy Bruno, Clayton Brothers Quintet, Bill Cunliffe, Ann Hampton Callaway, Hendrik Meurkens, Vail Jazz Workshop All-Stars, Joel Frahm, Wycliffe Gordon, Benny Green, Tony Monaco
  5. ↑ Dorsey, Kristina (February 12, 1988). "Ten year old Mystic student has peace mission to Moscow". The Day. The Day Publishing Company; republished at news.google.com. p. B1. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Ann Hampton Callaway | Album Discography | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 August 2016.

External links

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