Cab Calloway One Cool Cat !

Cab Calloway

An all round entertainer Cabell "Cab" Calloway was born on December 25th 1907 in Rochester, New York. He moved to Chicago with his family and to please his father who was a lawyer he began studying law. Encouraged by his sister Blanche, who was a singer, Cab began singing in clubs were he learned to scat by listening to the great Louis Armstrong.

It wasn't long before Cab dropped out of law school to pursue a musical career, singing in turn with "The Missourian's" and "The Alabamian's" and in 1929 he appeared in the "Hot Chocolates" revue. In 1930 Cab took over the Missourian's and renamed them Cab Calloway and his Orchestra. They replaced Duke Ellington's Orchestra at the famous cotton Club in Harlem and quickly gained popularity, as there were many live broadcasts from this venue. The following year Cab recorded "Minnie the Moocher" it became a phenomenal hit, selling over a million copies, fans clamoured to hear this song performed live. From this time on everyone who saw Cab Calloway live wanted to hear "Minnie the Moocher".

The bands success continued through the 30's and into the 40's attracting some of the great musicians of the era including, Dizzy Gillespie. Cab's great showmanship kept fan's coming back for more. The band didn't quite reach the top of the ladder but they were always in demand, Cab had developed a unique style of entertainment with his flashy suits and dance and comedy routines that were his trademark.

Sadly his business acumen wasn't as good as his showmanship and by the late 40's the orchestra called it a day. Cab went back to playing with small groups until he got the part of "Sportin' Life" in a Broadway production of "Porgy and Bess", this brought to life another facet of his talent and he found himself in demand for musicals on stage and screen. He appeared in the classic Broadway production of "Hello Dolly" with Pearl Bailey and many movies including the cult movie "The Blues Brothers"

Cab Calloway continued to entertain his fans until his death on October 18th 1994, most people will remember him strutting around the stage dressed in a white tuxedo singing "Minnie the Moocher". :D