Born December 25, 1907, in Rochester, New York, and raised primarily in Baltimore, Maryland, Cabell Calloway III began his formidable life in a middle class African-American family. His father, Cabell Calloway II, was a lawyer and his mother, Martha Eulalie Reed, was a teacher and church organist. They recognized their son’s musical talent, and in 1922, gave him private voice lessons. Throughout Cab’s formative years, he studied music and voice, and despite his parents’ staunch disapproval of jazz, he began frequenting and performing in many of the Baltimore jazz clubs. There he found influence and inspiration from the likes of drummer, Chick Webb and pianist, Johnny Jones.
His older sister, Blanche, was an accomplished bandleader and he joined her touring production after graduating from high school. He studied law at Crane College for a short time to please his parents, but his interests were clearly elsewhere in the whirl of city lights and smoke-filled cabarets and nightclubs. He met Louis Armstrong at the Sunset Café, who taught him to sing in the “scat style.” Known as the inventor of the “zoot suit”, Cab always performed in a white tuxedo and tails.
In 1930, Cab Calloway and his orchestra were hired as a replacement for Duke Ellington at New York’s famous Cotton Club. In 1931, he recorded his most famous song, “Minnie The Moocher.” It was the first jazz album to sell a million copies. He fared well on Broadway: once in 1952 in Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” opposite Leontyne Price and William Warfield, and again in 1967 in “Hello Dolly,” opposite Pearl Bailey and his own singer/actress daughter, Chris Calloway.
His autobiography, “Of Minnie The Moocher And Me” was released in 1976 and contained, as an appendage, his complete and unique Hepster’s Dictionary.
The “King of Hi-De-Ho” was inducted in the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1987. He died of a stroke on November 18, 1994.
What are some of your favorite Cab Calloway performances? Please share.