Ann Hamptom Callaway Wows her McCallum Audience

By Audrey Liebross

 I was fortunate to attend Ann Hampton Callaway’s recent concert at the McCallum Theatre. Ann is a jazz singer and interpreter of the great American songbook, and a composer who has also appeared on Broadway. Her best-known composition is probably the theme song for the television show The Nanny.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Ann this summer, when she was teaching shipboard workshops on a cruise to Alaska as part of Seth Rudetsky’s “Broadway Vacations.” Ann is a delightful person who charmed the group. When I realized that she was going to appear at the McCallum, I eagerly purchased tickets.

Ann has a magnetic stage presence. Her first number at the McCallum, “Lady Be Good,” right away demonstrated her fabulous alto voice, along with her incredible range. Despite Ann’s natural alto, she did an amazing high-note scat, as well as fabulous belts throughout the show. (For those unfamiliar with the jazz term “scat,” it is a vocal run, often improvised, with nonsense words, such as “a doobiddy bop, a beebee bop, bop, bop, bop.”) She performed songs made famous by such jazz greats as Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughn, Peggy Lee, and the great Ella Fitzgerald.

Ann not only entertained the crowd musically, but her anecdotes were hilarious. She did funny impressions of Billie Holliday and Sarah Vaughn, including the sassy “‘I’m Too White to Sing the Blues’ Blues.” Her impression of a trumpet sounded like … a trumpet.

Ann apparently also has chutzpah, and I mean it in the most positive sense of the word. She told an anecdote in which she wrote a song about peace that is more pop or rock than jazz, and decided that she would try to get Barbra Streisand to record it, even though she didn’t know Ms. Streisand. And she succeeded!

For more information about Ann, her website is www.AnnHamptonCallaway.com. Ann’s next nearby appearances are on March 2, 2024, in Malibu, at the Smothers Theatre, of the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts, where she will sing songs of the 1970’s. On May 31st, she will be in Las Vegas, at Myron’s at the Smith Center.

Before her appearance at the McCallum Theater, I sent Ann some interview questions by email. Here are her answers, also by email.

One way Broadway music has changed is the increased importance of the female belt — even among sopranos — as opposed to classical and folk style singing. To what do you attribute this change?

 In much of our culture today, there is a “sports” mentality- can you do the impossible? Dancers no longer just dance, they have to do back flips. Singers no longer just sing, they have to reach Herculean heights in the notes they can belt and the volume they can deliver. The collective attention span has shrunk so the shock and awe factor looms large.

 In the 40’s and 50’s, jazz was a HUGE part of Broadway music. It’s definitely not so big now. To what do you attribute the diminution of jazz on Broadway?

 The pendulum always swings back. Before I helped create and starred in the Broadway musical “Swing!” there was a lull in jazz on Broadway. But there was a sudden swing dance movement and that inspired the show. Last year, jazz got a shot in the arm when a 23 year old singer named Samara Joy won the Grammy for best new artist. To me, this is an encouraging sign that great classic jazz singing is timeless and valued, not esoteric and old-fashioned. Jazz is a sophisticated music and I have faith that it will find new ears and new voices and once more anoint Broadway with beauty. Maybe when I write my Broadway musical I will seduce the public to appreciate and love it once more.

 I really loved the cruise ship class you taught on how to do improvisational lyric writing and composing. Do you compose that way, and does it allow complex rhymes and rhythms, or does the composer have to keep words and tunes simple?

 Improv is an amazing artform that frees the imagination and the subteranean emotional life we lose track of. Many of my best songs have been improvs that flowed from me like a river. We are all capable of this freedom and I enjoy teaching people how to access that inner treasure trove. I like to say I do my best thinking when I’m not thinking.