The name “Calloway” was a huge path to success. Before Cab, of course, there was Blanche, the elder sister (born in 1903) who started out with Louis Armstrong before having her own orchestra in 1931. But what few of us know is that Cab had a younger brother who also happened to lead his own orchestra. But to find out more about Elmer Calloway, you have to search and search and search. But don’t try searching at Cab’s house. Read the full story →
Après sa rupture avec Zelma, Cab retourna terminer sa dernière année de lycée, mais échoua finalement. Il maintint son rythme hallucinant entre les clubs de jazz, l’école, le basket et les petits boulots. Mais tout va commencer grâce à Blanche, sa soeur, qui va l'aider à intégrer la revue Plantation Days. Ensuite, tout s'enchaîne relativement rapidement. Read the full story →
En juillet 1941, Cab Calloway reçut les honneurs de la Guilde Custor des Tailleurs en étant désigné comme le plus élégant chef d'orchestre des Etats-Unis (il faut dire qu'à cette époque, les autres pays avaient un peu autre chose à faire qu'à parler chiffon, les treillis étant plus d'actualité !). Cette récompense était logique pour Cab qui, depuis ses tout débuts, avait toujours su conjuguer sens de la scène, entertainment et élégance. Read the full story →
We’ve seen in our last article that Cab Calloway kept himself busy between two seasons. Before its winter return in Miami, the whole troupe will find harvest in the windy city, Chicago, before leaving for South America. This is our final chapter about thie 3 year odyssey with wonderful performers and amazing performances. Read the full story →
Part 2: With Cab Calloway Read the full story →
Recorded in December 1958, this album was supposed to let people discover Cab Calloway’s “stylized vocal” in full stereo, backed by a big band orchestra. It was eventually released in June 1960! The Hi De Ho Blog tries to explain the story of those tracks, neglected by Jazz historians, forgotten by most but which are a lively experience of Cab Calloway’s sound and voice in this era: timeless! Read the full story →
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The Lady With The Fan
The song about the Cotton Club chorus line girl, Amy Spencer. Naughty, naughty song...
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Clarification: Cootie Williams joined the band at some date between 16 Jan 1929 and 1 March 1929 (these being dates of Ellington recording sessions; Cootie was on the second date but not the first). Juan Tizol was, according to his recollection (NEA Jazz Oral History Project interview with Patricia Williard, tape held at IJS/Rutgers), hired just as the band began work on the Broadway musical "Show Girl" for which rehearsals began 3 June 1929.The photo of the Ellington band with Harry White was thus taken sometime after Williams joined, and sometime before Tizol joined. The exact dates White worked with Ellington's band aren't known, but since he was fired and then replaced by Tizol, I suppose it must have been circa May 1929. Per Joe Nanton (interview with Inez Cavanaugh, Metronome, Feb 1945, p. 26, reprinted in Mark Tucker's "The Duke Ellington Reader," p. 467): ..."around 1929. Harry White came into the band for four or five weeks. [....] Father's jitters got everyone jittery and he was replaced by Juan Tizol."
Posté par steven_lasker -
Je suis une amie de Jean Claude Ferrand qui m'a beaucoup parlé de Gilles Pétard , de leur jeunesse, et de leur intérêt commun de ce genre de musique.
Posté par jeanneperquis -
What a shame that segregation robbed these beautiful African American performers of great visibility on larger stages and on film throughout entertainment history. Very few glimpses of their enormous talent was provided during a brief nightclub scene during a song or dane routine in major Hollywood productions. Shameful racism at play then, and sadly has much really changed?
Posté par rmarkdesjardins