Tony nominee Liz Callaway (Baby, Miss Saigon) joins her Tony-nominated sister Ann Hampton Callaway (Swing!) for a duet of "Wherever You Are" on the latter's just-released recording, Finding Beauty: Originals, Volume 1. Listen to the track in the video above.
The new recording, available from Shanachie Entertainment, features 16 songs, all written by Ann Hampton Callaway, who was recently recently inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame. The album is a milestone for the singer-songwriter—it’s her first to feature only her original songs.
“This is my most personal record,” Ann Hampton Callaway said in a statement. “Throughout my career, I’ve loved singing the great jazz classics and selections from the Great American Songbook, but I’ve always snuck my original songs on various projects. The pandemic made me think, ‘I don’t know if I’ll live through this, but if I do, what’s at the top of my bucket list?’ And I realized that I wanted to tell my story and share the deepest part of me. What better way than by sharing and singing songs I’ve written?”
In the liner notes for the new recording, Ann Hampton Callaway has this to say about "Wherever You Are": "This song was composed on the spot in the early '90s when I lost my friend David from a difficult battle with AIDS. Since I couldn't attend his funeral, I sat at the piano and sang everything that I wanted him to know I felt as a tape recorder captured the moment. In 1996, I recorded the song with the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus on their CD Sing Out and it's been sung at many funerals since then. For this CD, it is especially meaningful to get to record this piece with my beloved sister and singing partner, Liz Callaway, after losing both of our parents, John and Shirley. And the song has added poignance—Trey Henry began arranging the song on the day he found out his beloved brother had unexpectedly died. And finally, after all the people we lost in the pandemic, who did not get a proper goodbye, I hope this recording bring solace to those still grieving."
The new recording also features duets with Melissa Manchester, Kurt Elling, Tierney Sutton, and more.
