There have been few artists who could bridge the gap between artistry, humor and popularity, but Cab Calloway was able to make a career of it. The vocalist/bandleader created a unique singing style that was a mix of bel canto and field hollers, hiring some of the best musicians at the time, such as Chu Berry, Dizzy Gillespie, Ben Webster, Milt Hinton and Doc Cheatham, to name just a few. The incessant pulse of his supporting bands, as well as his exuberant vocal delivery created a fan base in both concert halls and movies, with credits ranging from cartoon films with Betty Boop in 1932 to 1980s The Blues Brothers.
And the band, well, it SWUNG, and swung hard, as this 2 disc, 48 song collection attests, covering almost all of Calloway’s hits (What? No “I’ll Be Around”), that mixed novelty with mayhem. To get a feel of the energy emanating from the band, get a load of “Fifteen Minute Intermission” “Peckin’” or “Six Or Seven Times”. For the blues, Calloway delivers a definitive and wild read of “St. James Infirmary”, and his flexible delivery of lyrics, as well as his roller coaster dynamics, as perfect for the zany times of the dance craze called the Jitterbug.
Calloway was a master of the hip double entendre, with songs about characters similar to a Tom Waits tune in “Minnie The Moocher”, “Kickin’ The Gong Around” and “She’s Tall, She’s Tan, She’s Terrific”. Calloway and the band sear through “St. Louis Blues” and “You Rascal You” and gives a definitive read of “Blues In The Night”. Calloway was one of the few artists that could make a novelty song sound classy, creating zoot suit hits such as “(Hep Hep) The Jumpin’ Jive” and putting “Hi De Ho” into America’s vernacular. The joint is jumping for this one.