A Style Hard to Put Into Words

One of the entertaining high points of singer Ann Hampton Callaway’s programs takes place when she calls for a variety of phrases, words and ideas from her listeners and then weaves them into an extemporaneous song.

Listeners love participating in the magical moment of creativity--one that undoubtedly will take place later this week when she appears for the first time at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Inventing a song on the spot takes a quick mind, a bright sense of humor and a rich supply of musicianship. It also takes the skill of an eclectic artistry blended with an irrepressible curiosity about the world. This Chicago-born singer-composer has those qualities in abundance.

In fact, it’s very difficult to find the proper label for what she does--or, at least, to limit it to a single genre. In January she completed a yearlong run in a musical--”Swing,” for which she also composed some of the songs--and was nominated for a Tony Award. On Valentine’s Day, Barbra Streisand sang a pair of Callaway songs in her television spectacular. (At her wedding to James Brolin, Streisand sang another Callaway original, “I Dreamed of You” to the groom.)

She’s also finishing work on a new album, titled “Signature” and scheduled for release this year. Callaway describes it as a collection of “signature songs of the great male and female pop jazz vocalists of the 20th century.”

“They’re songs performers are known for,” she explained, “not necessarily their biggest hits. And that’s great because it lets me pick the songs I relate to the best.”

Those songs, noted Callaway, include “The Best Is Yet To Come,” as a Tony Bennett signature number; “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” for Frank Sinatra; and “Tenderly” for Sarah Vaughan. She added that one or two numbers from the album may well make their way into her Founders Hall performances Thursday through Sunday.

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In addition to the new album, Callaway will continue her regular touring schedule, try to get together with her sister, Broadway soprano Liz Callaway, for a few appearances with their “Sibling Revelry” act, and consider a pair of possible musical theater writing assignments.

Given all that, what is the proper label for what Callaway does?

She laughed in response to a question she’s been grappling with for most of her career.

“I’m just a very curious, passionate person when it comes to the different sides of music,” she said. “I’m not just a jazz singer, I’m not just a cabaret singer, I’m not just a songwriter. But I also am all of those things. It’s very challenging.

“The fact is that I have focused more on certain things at certain times,” she added. “Recently, aside from ‘Swing,’ I’ve focused more on jazz and cabaret. But even there it’s a blend. I use my cabaret style in performance, but I think the music I’ve performed has been more jazz focused.”

“Jazz focused” enough to attract such world class artists as Wynton Marsalis and Kenny Barron, among others, to perform on her recordings.

Still, Callaway is right in noting that she has moved--with remarkable ease--through a variety of genres. And that can be difficult in a business that prefers to place performers in categories.

“It definitely hasn’t helped,” she said, “precisely because of that, because of categorization. But plenty of other have resisted category. Look at Duke Ellington. He was a real Renaissance man, and I’ve always aspired to be a Renaissance woman.”

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Most of Callaway’s devoted fans would say that her aspiration has already been achieved. And it’s a fair bet that anyone who has heard her gorgeously subtle, hard-swinging jazz recordings, chuckled at her offbeat title song for the hit sitcom, “The Nanny,” or saw her performance in “Swing” would agree.

Callaway takes a more modest view.

“I very much see myself as a work in progress,” she said. “It’s as though I’m metamorphosing and haven’t come out the other end yet. What I’m really trying to do is work at becoming an open vessel, to have less sense of doing and more sense of allowing grace to take place. And that’s hard, because it’s so unpredictable, there’s not as much sense of control.

“So the only thing I can hope for,” she concluded, “when I’m doing one or the other of the many things I do, that people will basically respond to who I am and what I do, and just decide to go along for the ride.”

SHOW TIMES

Ann Hampton Callaway sings Thursday at Founders Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 7:30 p.m. Also Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m. $45 to $49. (714) 556-2787.