Cab Calloway

小简介
Cab Calloway是一位很有天份的歌手与舞者，曾经唸过法律相关的学校，但是最后还是发现自己的才能在音乐演出上，他从1928年开始领导爵士大乐团，他领导过的乐团有Alabamians 乐团与Missourians乐团，Alabamians 乐团在纽约市的演出不是很具有竞争力，因此只维持一段时间。
1929年领导的乐团Missourians 就是很出色的乐团了，所唱红的歌曲很多，他们也在纽约市的棉花俱乐部表演，大约在1932年时达到一个颠峰，Cab Calloway的表演特色是将更多娱乐的成分加入爵士乐当中。这也使他成为知名度很高的黑人艺人，就像Louis Armstrong 与Duke Ellington一样有很高的声望。"Minnie The Moocher."这首曲子在当时非常受到喜爱， 他与经纪人 Irvin Mills的共同合作，让唱片销售超过百万张。后来Cab Calloway正式接管Missourians乐团，并且将它更名为"Cab Calloway and His Orchestra"。
1942年所录製的歌曲"Blues in the Night"是非常畅销的歌曲。 由於大乐队渐渐难以维持，他的乐队也在1948年解散. Cab Calloway曾经与小喇叭手Dizzy Gillespie 发生衝突，他甚至还被Dizzy Gillespie 刺了一刀，后来他们两人彼此和解了。其实他与 Dizzy Gillespie一样都是爵士乐团重要的领导人，而且都是相当有领导魅力的人。
by Scott Yanow
One of the great entertainers, Cab Calloway was a household name by 1932, and never really declined in fame. A talented jazz singer and a superior scatter, Calloways gyrations and showmanship on-stage at the Cotton Club sometimes overshadowed the quality of his always excellent bands. The younger brother of singer Blanche Calloway (who made some fine records before retiring in the mid-30s), Cab grew up in Baltimore, attended law school briefly, and then quit to try to make it as a singer and a dancer. For a time, he headed the Alabamians, but the band was not strong enough to make it in New York. The Missourians, an excellent group that had previously recorded heated instrumentals but had fallen upon hard times, worked out much better. Calloway worked in the 1929 revue Hot Chocolates, started recording in 1930, and in 1931 hit it big with both Minnie the Moocher and his regular engagement at the Cotton Club. Calloway was soon (along with Bill Robinson, Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington) the best-known black entertainer of the era. He appeared in quite a few movies (including 1943s Stormy Weather), and Minnie the Moocher was followed by such recordings as Kicking the Gong Around, Reefer Man, Minnie the Moochers Wedding Day, You Gotta Hi-De-Ho, The Hi-De-Ho Miracle Man, and even Mister Paganini, Swing for Minnie. Among Calloways sidemen through the years (who received among the highest salaries in the business) were Walter Foots Thomas, Bennie Payne, Doc Cheatham, Eddie Barefield, Shad Collins, Cozy Cole, Danny Barker, Milt Hinton, Mario Bauza, Chu Berry, Dizzy Gillespie, Jonah Jones, Tyree Glenn, Panama Francis, and Ike Quebec. His 1942 recording of Blues in the Night was a big hit.
With the end of the big band era, Calloway had to reluctantly break up his orchestra in 1948, although he continued to perform with his Cab Jivers. Since George Gershwin had originally modeled the character Sportin Life in Porgy and Bess after Calloway, it was fitting that Cab got to play him in a 1950s version. Throughout the rest of his career, Calloway made special appearances for fans who never tired of hearing him sing Minnie the Moocher.