A native of Chicago, Ann Hampton Callaway was genetically predisposed to performing. Her father, John Callaway, is a former CBS News correspondent and host of the PBS show, Chicago Tonight; her mother, Shirley Callaway, is a prominent Broadway vocal coach. Sister Liz Callaway is a well-established Broadway actress with whom Ann wrote and performed the musical, “Sibling Revelry,” in London. "I grew up listening to my dad's jazz album collection," she recalls, "and by the time I reached my teens, I was hooked." She also points to Carole King’s Tapestry as her early inspiration: "I was 12 or 13 and it was that record that inspired me to sing and write my own songs." Much later, Callaway met King, and the two collaborated in composing "Tonight You're All Mine," which King produced and sang back-up to Callaway.

With a career spanning cabaret, concert hall, television, stage, and highly successful songwriting, Ann Hampton Callaway has been honored as a Tony nominee for "Best Featured Actress in a Broadway Musical" (for Swing); as the ASCAP Winner of the "Johnny Mercer Songwriting Award;" as the winner of the New York Theatre World Award for "Outstanding Broadway Debut"; and as the Lincoln Center "2003 Featured Artist." She participated in the Edinburgh Festival as part of Scotland’s Jubilee Celebration for the Queen of England, performed for President Clinton at the White House, and was the invited guest performer for President Gorbachev’s Youth Peace Summit in Moscow. On television she has been seen on The Today Show, CNN, The Charlie Rose Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Charles Grodin, ABC News, PBS, and the BBC. With her own radio show ongoing, Callaway recently made her big screen debut as Mrs. White in the independent film, Sky King, and is preparing to host a new TV series. But she is probably best known for her song, "The Nanny Named Fran," which she wrote and performed for the CBS television comedy hit, The Nanny.

In addition to a growing discography, Callaway has established herself as one of the nation’s leading songwriters, publishing over 40 songs. Callaway was the first person granted permission by Cole Porter's estate to write music for a previously unrecorded Porter lyric, "I Gaze in Your Eyes." She also wrote "At the Same Time" for Barbara Streisand, which Streisand performed for President Clinton in Los Angeles and recorded for her hit CD, Higher Ground. Last year, Callaway released a highly regarded CD, Slow (Shanachie). Noted David Hurst (Show Business), “Shifting gears a bit, jazz chanteuse Ann Hampton Callaway’s new recording, Slow, may be luxuriously sensual and unabashedly romantic, but it’s also her most contemporary and pop inspired CD to date… Slow finds Callaway at the top of her game vocally with her smoky, languid mezzo as enveloping and caressing as ever. She’s utterly divine and Slow is heavenly!”

For reservations for Ann Hampton Callaway’s sets at the Dakota (September 12-14; 7 and 9 pm), call 612-332-1010 or reserve online at www.dakotacooks.com ; for tickets in New York (September 23-24 at Dizzy’s), call (212) 258-9595 or visit www.jalc.org

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