West coast-based singer, songwriter, and actress, Jan Daley, is no stranger to the work of Stephen Sondheim. Based on the West coast, the cross-continental magic of Sondheim reached her at an early age. Daley has starred in numerous musicals and television appearances, but is primarily a recording artist who specializes in versions of the Great American Songbook (including the work of Sondheim), as well as writing and recording original songs that have landed her on the jazz charts. In 1970, her recording of Riz Ortolani and Arthur Hamilton’s “Til Love Touches Your Life” from the film Madron was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. 
Currently, Daley has released her new CD, Home for Christmas and from the album, her single, “The Christmas Song.” Also just released is The Best of Jan Daley. Find out more at https://www.jandaley.com.
Jan Daley remembers Stephen Sondheim:
“The first time I heard Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics, I was with my girlfriends from high school. We went to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to see West Side Story . We loved the movie so much we went back 10 more times! Being a songwriter myself, I understand how working with a brilliant lyricist can inspire the music you write, and it indeed inspired Leonard Bernstein!
I wish I could have recorded all his songs on my Broadway Memories album.
Stephen broke barriers in Broadway and wrote about subjects that hadn’t been written about, but for me when he began to compose the music it was his melodies that captured me first!
I lived in LA, so we didn’t have all the Broadway Musicals, so we got them through the movies or radio
I remember falling in love with “Being Alive” through Dean Jones. We had the same vocal coach and I heard him sing it while taking a lesson. He said he would be singing it in a new Broadway Musical. My agent had booked me on “The Tonight Show,” in New York. I changed the song I was going to sing to “Being Alive.” It was the first time I left my nerves in the dressing room and let Sondheim’s lyrics lead me to a standing ovation from the TV audience.
It wasn’t until I sang “Losing my Mind” and “Send in the Clowns” live that that Sondheim Magic occurred, and I knew I had to include them on my Broadway Memories album and my new album, The Best of Jan Daley! Many of his songs I sang in my concerts, not knowing what the musical or characters were about, but when someone writes a great song, it can stand alone without the story behind it! That’s what Stephen Sondheim did so magnificently!”
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