Cab Calloway

I can't remember if I've mentioned Cab before but here's a few tracks from a cheap CD. I expect you can find compilations still of all his big hits like "Minnie The Moocher" and "Honey Dripper" etc. He also did some great soundtracks for early Betty Boop cartoons with the Fleischer Brothers in which they "rotoscoped" him into the film doing some crazy dance routine where he changes into a walrus!

"Cab Calloway was born Cabell Calloway III in a middle-class family in Rochester, New York, and raised primarily in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, Cabell Calloway II, was a lawyer, 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 drummer Chick 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 and the Sunset Cafe, 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."

Discover more about Cab Calloway HERE.


Cab Calloway - Nagasaki

Cab Calloway - Hoy Hoy

Cab Calloway - Jumpin' Jive

Cab Calloway - A Chicken Ain't Nothing But A Bird


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