- Cab Calloway
Infobox musical artist
Name = Cab Calloway
Img_capt = Cab Calloway, photographed byCarl Van Vechten , 1933
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Cabell Calloway III
Alias =
Born = birth date|1907|12|25 inRochester, New York
Died = death date and age|1994|11|18|1907|12|25 inHockessin, Delaware (Stroke )
Origin =
Instrument =Singer
Voice_type =
Genre =Jazz ,blues
Occupation =Bandleader ,singer-songwriter
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URL = http://www.cabcallowayllc.comCabell "Cab" Calloway III (
December 25 ,1907 –November 18 ,1994 ) was a famous Americanjazz singer andbandleader .Calloway was a master of energetic
scat singing and led one of theUnited States ' most popularAfrican American big band s from the start of the 1930s through the late 1940s. Calloway's Orchestra featured performers that included trumpetersDizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonistsBen Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, New Orleans guitar aceDanny Barker , and bassistMilt Hinton . Calloway continued to perform until his death in 1994 at the age of 86.Biography
Early years
Calloway was born in a middle-class family in Rochester, New York on Christmas Day In 1907, and lived there until 1918, on Sycamore Street. He was later raised in
Baltimore, Maryland . His father, Cabell Calloway II, was alawyer , and his mother, Martha Eulalia Reed, was a teacher and church organist. His parents recognized their son's musical talent, and he began private voice lessons in 1922. He continued to study music and voice throughout his formal schooling. Despite his parents' and vocal teachers' disapproval of jazz, Calloway began frequenting and eventually performing in many of Baltimore's jazz clubs, where he was mentored by drummerChick Webb and pianist Johnny Jones.After graduating from high school Cab joined his older sister, Blanche, in a touring production of the popular black musical revue "Plantation Days" (Blanche Calloway herself would become an accomplished bandleader before her brother did, and Cab would often credit his inspiration to enter show business to her). Cab attended
Lincoln University, PA , and left in 1930 without graduating.When the tour ended in Chicago in the fall, Cab decided to remain in Chicago with his sister, who had an established career as a jazz singer in that city. His parents had hopes of their son becoming a lawyer like his father, so Calloway enrolled in
Crane College .His main interest, however, was in singing and entertaining, and he spent most of his nights at the Dreamland Cafe the Sunset Cafe and the Club Berlin, performing as a drummer, singer and
emcee .At the Sunset Cafe he met and performed with
Louis Armstrong who taught him to sing in the "scat" style.uccess
The
Cotton Club was the premier jazz venue in the country, and Cab Calloway and his Orchestra (he had taken over a brilliant but failing band called "The Missourians" in 1930) were hired as a replacement for theDuke Ellington Orchestra while they were touring. (There is some speculation thatMafia pressure was responsible for Cab's hiring.)Fact|date=August 2007 Calloway quickly proved so popular that his band became the "co-house" band with Ellington's, and Cab and his group began touring nationwide when not playing the Cotton Club. Their popularity was greatly enhanced by the twice-weekly live nationalradio broadcasts onNBC at the Cotton Club. Calloway also appeared onWalter Winchell 's radio program and withBing Crosby in his show at the Paramount Theatre. As a result of these appearances, Calloway, together with Ellington, broke the major broadcast network color barrier.Unlike many other bands of comparable commercial success, Calloway's gave ample soloing space to its lead members, and, through the varied arrangements of
Walter 'Foots' Thomas , provided much more in the way of musical interest.In 1931, he recorded his most famous song, "
Minnie the Moocher ". That song, "St. James Infirmary Blues ", and "The Old Man Of The Mountain" were performed for theBetty Boop animated shorts "Minnie the Moocher", "Snow White" and "The Old Man of the Mountain", respectively. Throughrotoscoping , Cab not only gave his voice to these cartoons but his dance steps as well. Cab took advantage of this and timed his concerts in some communities with the release of the films in order to make the most of the attention. As a result of the success of "Minnie the Moocher" he became identified with its chorus, gaining the nickname "The Hi De Ho Man." He also performed in a series of short films for Paramount in the 1930s (Calloway and Ellington were featured on film more than any other Jazz Orchestra of the era). In 1943 he appeared in the high-profile20th Century Fox musical film, "Stormy Weather".In 1941 Cab Calloway fired
Dizzy Gillespie from his Orchestra after an onstage fracas erupted when Calloway was hit with spitballs. He wrongly accused Gillespie, who stabbed Calloway in the leg with a small knife.In 1944, "The New Cab Calloway's Hepsters Dictionary: Language of Jive" was published, an update of an earlier book in which Cab set about translating jive for fans who might not know, for example, that "kicking the gong around" was a reference to smoking opium.
Later years
In the 1950s, Calloway moved his family from Long Island, NY, to
Greenburgh , NY, to raise the three youngest of his five daughters.In his later career, Calloway became a popular personality, appearing in a number of films and stage productions that utilized both his acting and singing talents. In 1952, he played the prominent role of "Sportin' Life" in a production of the
Gershwin opera "Porgy and Bess " withWilliam Warfield andLeontyne Price as the title characters. Another notable role was "Yeller" in "The Cincinnati Kid " (1965), with Steve McQueen,Ann-Margret andEdward G. Robinson .In 1967 Calloway co-starred as Horace Vandergelder in an all-black revival of "Hello, Dolly!" (even though the original production was still running) starringPearl Bailey . This was a major success and led to a cast recording released byRCA . In 1973–1974 he was featured in an unsuccessful Broadway revival of "The Pajama Game " alongsideHal Linden and Barbara McNair.1976 saw the release of his autobiography, "Of Minnie The Moocher And Me" (Crowell). It included his complete "Hepsters Dictionary" as an appendix.
Calloway attracted renewed interest in 1980 when he appeared as a supporting character in the film "The Blues Brothers," performing "
Minnie The Moocher ", and again when he sang "The Jumpin' Jive" with the Two-Headed Monster on "Sesame Street ". This was also the year cult movie "Forbidden Zone " was released, which included rearrangements and parodies of Cab Calloway songs written byDanny Elfman , a Calloway fan.Calloway helped establish the Cab Calloway Museum at Coppin State College (Baltimore, Maryland) in the 1980s and Bill Cosby helped establish a scholarship in Cab Calloway's name at the New School of Social Research New York City. In 1994, a creative and performing arts school
Cab Calloway School of the Arts was dedicated in his name inWilmington, Delaware .In 1986, Calloway appeared at
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s "WrestleMania 2 " as a guest judge for a boxing match betweenRowdy Roddy Piper andMr. T that took placeNassau Coliseum . Also in 1986 he headlined to great success a gala ball for 4,000 celebrating the grand opening of one of the top hotels in the U.S. at the time, Dallas-based Rosewood Hotel Co.'s Hotel Crescent Court in Dallas, Texas. In 1990 made a cameo inJanet Jackson 's video for "Alright". In theUnited Kingdom he also appeared in several commercials for theHula Hoops snack, both as himself and as a voice for a cartoon (in one of these commercials he sang his hit "Minnie The Moocher"). He also made an appearance at the Apollo Theater.Death
On
November 18 1994 , Calloway died after having suffered a majorstroke six months earlier. In 1998, The Cab Calloway Orchestra (directed by Cab's grandson C. "CB" Calloway Brooks) [ [http://www.cabcalloway.cc/callowayorch.htm Calloway Orchestra ] ] was formed to honor Cab Calloway's legacy on the national and international levels.elective awards and recognitions
Grammy history
Other honors
tage appearances
*"
Porgy and Bess " (1953)
*"Hello, Dolly!" (replacement in 1967)
*"The Pajama Game " (1973)
*"Bubbling Brown Sugar" (1976)
*"Uptown...It's Hot!" (1986)Filmography
Features:
*"The Big Broadcast " (1932)
*"International House" (1933)
*"The Singing Kid" (1936)
*"Manhattan Merry-Go-Round" (1937)
*"Stormy Weather" (1943)
*"Sensations of 1945 " (1944)
*"Ebony Parade" (1947)
*"Hi De Ho " (1947)
*"Rhythm and Blues Revue" (1955)
*"St. Louis Blues" (1958)
*"Schlager-Raketen" (1960)
*"The Cincinnati Kid " (1965)
*"The Blues Brothers" (1980)Short Subjects:
*"Minnie the Moocher " (1932)
*"Snow-White" (1933) (voice)
*"The Old Man of the Mountain" (1933)
*"Betty Boop's Rise to Fame " (1934) (voice)
*"Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho " (1934)
*"Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party " (1935)
*"Hi De Ho" (1937)
*"Meet the Maestros" (1938)
*"Caldonia " (1945)
*"Basin Street Revue" (1956)Family
Father- Cabell Calloway II (
Lawyer )Mother- Martha Eulalia Reed (
Teacher )Sister- Blanche Calloway (
Bandleader )Wife- Betty (div.)
Wife- Nuffie (m. 1945, until his death)
Girlfriend- Zelma Proctor (
high school )Daughter: Camay Murphy (by Zelma)
Daughter: Chris Calloway
Daughter: Eulalia Tyson
Daughter: Cabella Langsam
References
External links
* [http://www.cabcallowayllc.com The Official Cab Calloway website]
* [http://www.music-city.org/Cab-Calloway/complete-discography/ Cab Calloway complete discography]
* [http://www.cabcalloway.com The Official Homepage of The Cab Calloway Orchestra] , directed by Christopher Brooks
* [http://www.thehidehoblog.com The Hi de Ho Blog] , French website dedicated to Cab, his musicians and the Swing era
*"Jazz, the Rough Guide" by Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather and Brian Priestly; Penguin Books, 1995; pp. 96-97; ISBN 1-85828-137-7
* [http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/calloway.html NPR's "Jazz profiles"]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17408371 Cab Calloway: 'A Hi De Ho Centennial'] another program in NPR's "Jazz Profiles" series
*imdb name|id=0130572|name=Cab Calloway
* [http://www.popmatters.com/music/columns/ellis/051118.shtml "Cab Calloway: Original Rapper", "PopMatters" column (11/2005)]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/Insight_050812 1931 German broadcast recording of a live performance in Cotton Club, New York City]
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