Cab Calloway

1. Cab Calloway Samantha Maroki Ms. Suleyman 1st hour 3-21-11

2. Early Life Cab Calloway was born in 1907 to a middle-class family in Rochester, New York. When Cab was young, he enjoyed singing in church. He began private voice lessons in 1922, and continued to study music and voice through his schooling. His parents wanted him to be a lawyer, so he enrolled in Crane Collage, but his main interest was singing and entertaining. He spent most of his nights in the Dreamland Ballroom, the Sunset Café, and the Club Berlin, performing as a drummer, singer, and emcee.

3. Fame The Cotton Club was were everyone mainly went and Calloway and his orchestra were hired as replacements for the Duke Ellington orchestra. After that, his band be came the “co-house” band with Ellington’s, and his band began touring nation wide.

4. Fame Calloway appeared on Walter Winchell’s radio program and with Bing Crosley in his show at the New York Praraman Theatre. In 1931, he recorded his most famous song, “Minnie the Moocher,” and he preformed it for the Betty Boop animated shorts Minnie the Moocher. Because of his success from “Minnie the Moocher,” he became identified with its chorus, getting the nickname “The Hi De Ho Man.”

5. Later Years In his later career, he got into acting and appeared in a number or films and on stage productions. In 1952, he played a main role of the “Sprotin Life” in the production of the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bless. In 1990, he was the focus of Janet Jackson’s 1930s themed music video “Alright,” showing up as himself in the end.

6. Later Years In may 1994, Calloway suffered a stroke and dies 6 months later on November 18, 1994. His body was cemented and his ashes were given to his family.

7. Harlem Renaissance a cultural movement in the 1920s and 1930s. A lot of the African Americans were going through tough times and the Harlem Renaissance was a way for them to escape it. During the Harlem Renaissance, Jazz became the peoples music.

8. How He Contributed Cab Calloway contributed in the Harlem Renaissance mainly in the area of music. He was a jazz and scat singer, which was popular at the time. His music and lyrics helped people cope with what they were being put through. Harlem Renaissance music at the time was more than music, for them it was a way of life.

9. Examples of His Work Black Rhythme: You'll quit your pouting, And start a'shouting, No need in doubting he knows the keys. He can lay on the white ones, Can play on the black ones with ease. The way he plays Black Rhythm Makes the gang stick with him all night long, Forget the hour is late, They hear him syncopate his mournful song. A'humming like the breeze, A' strumming lightly on those ivories.

10. Examples of His Work Happy Feet: Those weary blues can't get into my shoes, Because my shoes refuse To ever grow weary. I keep cheerful on an earful Of music sweet; Just got those hap-hap-happy feet!