Chris Calloway, daughter of the famous Cotton Club band leader and International Icon Cab Calloway, is heir to an American musical legacy. She began her career on the Ed Sullivan show with an introduction to the world by her Dad 30 years ago. For 20 years Chris performed with her father and his Hi De Ho Orchestra. Together as a father/daughter team, they toured the U.S., Europe, South America, Japan and Australia, before her father passed away in 1995.

Chris’ Broadway credits include the history making “all black” David Merrick production of “ Hello Dolly”, staring Pearl Bailey, as well the “Pajama Game” with Hal Linden and Barbara Mc. Nair. Off- Broadway she starred with Tony Award winner Andre de Sheilds in “Jazzbo Brown”, which was directed by Louis Johnson with Tony Award winner and legendary musical arranger Luther Henderson.

Her television credits include “The Doctors” soap opera with Alec Baldwin, The Today Show, Johnny Carson Show, and Big Bands at Disneyland. ( Disney Channel) Chris was also a daytime Emmy presenter, as well as a judge for the “Miss America” pageant.

As a singer Chris has performed at The Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City, The Showboat Hotel and the world famous Club Harlem also in Atlantic City. Other credits include The Fairmount Hotels in San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, New Orleans and Dallas. Blues Alley in Washington CD, and the Blue Note in New York City. The Sedona Jazz Festival in 2000 and again in 2004. She was co-host with Mercedes Ellington ( Duke Ellington’s granddaughter) at the prestigious “Lyric & Lyricists show at the 92^nd Street “Y” in New York City 2002. She has been a major participant in the yearly Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Cabaret Convention at Town Hall in NYC 2001, 2002, 2003 as well as the 16^th Annual MAC Awards show in 2002. ( NYC Cabaret Awards). In the same year Chris was a performer in “One Night Only” for the Desert Aids Project in Palm Springs along with Lily Tomlin Carol Channing, Lainie Kazan, Lorna Luft, Rod McKuen and Jo Ann Worley. She hosted and performed at Lincoln Center’s film society presentation of “Reel to Real” in 2003.

As an actress, her portrayal of the jazz legend Billie Holiday in the Lannie Robertson play, “ Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar And Grill”, took her from Alabama to the Edinburgh Arts Festival; from Dallas to a tour of England; from Winnipeg Canada to Sarasota Florida, and finally to Santa Fe at the New Mexico Rep, and the Santa Fe Stages International Theatre Festival. Chris was nominated for a “Barrymore” award for her performance of “Lady Day” at the Bristol Riverside Theatre in Pennsylvania.

In 1999 Chris put together her father’s last band, The Hi De Ho Orchestra for the internationally acclaimed JVC Jazz Festival in New York City. That performance led directly to a 55 city big band tour called “Cab Calloway’s Legacy Of Swing” in the winter of 2001. Returning to Santa Fe in the spring of 2001, Chris dove right into a project that was a “dream come true for me”. Santa Fe Stages International Theatre Festival produced Chris’ one-woman show that she wrote about her Aunt Blanche called “Clouds Of Joy”. Blanche Calloway was one of, if not the only, black female to front an “all male” band in 1931. She was in show business while her brother Cab was still in high school and she had a profound influence on her brother Cab’s career. “Clouds Of Joy” then moved to The Barrington Stage Company in the Berkshires as “ Blanche and Her Joy Boys” in 2002 and then onto the regional theatre The New Repertory Theatre in Boston in 2003.

After the Big Band Tour in 2001 Chris had a recurrence of her 1987 diagnosis of Breast Cancer. ( CLICK HERE to listen to an amazing interview with Chris ).

During rehearsals in Barrington 20002 of “Blanche And Her Joy Boys” she was receiving radiation treatment. Her journey through Cancer continued into 2004 and culminated with her taking Chemotherapy in 2005 to today. Chris has said that, “ Cancer saved my life”. Her journey has brought to her a sense of gratitude and appreciation for life and loving. She is a promoter of’ the glass is half full” even when dealing with the power and side effects of her treatment. She now works closely with the New Mexico Cancer Institute and has done several speaking engagement for among others the Saint Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe New Mexico. She is currently working with the Susan B Koman Breast Cancer Foundation in Richmond Virginia. “I am the new breed of Cancer patients; people who are LIVING with Cancer. It is a profound blessing and a miracle of modern science and technology. I am grateful and humbled.”

This year, 2007, marks 77 years of show business history for the Calloway family; Blanche Calloway, Cab Calloway and Chris Calloway. Chris was born into and grew up within this legacy. She is original yet authentic within this style and she has earned her place in her family’s tradition. She has God-given talent and her own legacy of a 20 year working relationship with her legendary father. Chris’ music comes forth through her classic (Vintage Vocalist) interpretations. She has the skill, training and experience to “take the baton” and continue this world famous style of entertaining into the 21^st Century.