Envision Equity February 2019 Special Black History Month Edition

Envision Equity February 2019
Cab Calloway
Singer and bandleader Cab Calloway was born in Rochester, New York, in 1907. He learned the art of scat
singing before landing a regular gig at Harlem's famous Cotton Club. Following the enormous success of his
song "Minnie the Moocher" (1931), Calloway became one of the most popular entertainers of the 1930s and '40s.
He appeared on stage and in films before his death in 1994, at age 86, in Hockessin, Delaware.
In 1930, Calloway got a gig at Harlem's famed Cotton Club. Soon, as the bandleader of Cab Calloway and his
Orchestra, he became a regular performer at the popular nightspot. Calloway hit the big time with "Minnie the
Moocher" (1931), a No. 1 song that sold more than one million copies. The tune's famous call-and-response "hide-hi-de-ho"
chorus—improvised when he couldn't recall a lyric—became Calloway's signature phrase for the
rest of his career.
Calloway and his orchestra had successful tours in Canada, Europe and across the United States, traveling in
private train cars when they visited the South in order to escape some of the hardships of segregation. With his
enticing voice, energetic onstage moves and dapper white tuxedos, Calloway was the star attraction. However,
the group's musical talent was just as impressive, partly because the salaries Calloway offered were
second only to Duke Ellington's. The standout musicians Calloway performed with
include
saxophonist Chu Berry, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and drummer Cozy Cole.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton presented Calloway with a National Medal of
Arts. Calloway's later years were spent in White Plains, New York, until he
had a stroke in June 1994. He then moved to a nursing home in Hockessin,
Delaware, where he died on November 18, 1994, at the age of 86.
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