Cab Calloway was a jazz singer, bandleader, songwriter, dancer and actor who came to fame as a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem.

Blending jazz and vaudeville, Calloway establish a niche that stood him in good stead as an entertainer across seven decades, with one of his most famous roles in later years coming in the 1980 Blues Brothers movie.

He developed a personal style of scat singing, and was able to deliver novelty-flavoured material with swinging jazz credibility, assembling a band that over the years included jazz luminaries like Ben Webster, Milt Hinton, Doc Cheatham, Chu Berry, Cozy Cole, Dizzy Gillespie and others.

This 48-track compilation features the releases from this era on the Brunswick, Victor, Variety, Vocalion, Okeh, Columbia and ABC-Paramount labels which were credited with chart positions, plus a few bonus tracks. Those 45 hits include the No.1 Minnie The Moocher and the Top 5 hits Kickin’ The Gong Around, St. James Infirmary, Tickeration, Minnie The Moocher’s Wedding Day, Chinese Rhythm, Moonglow, Angels With Dirty Faces, The Jumpin’ Jive, Blues In The Night and The Honey Dripper. Calloway was the first African-American musician to sell a million records from a single and to have a nationally syndicated radio show.

He posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 and Minnie The Moocher was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2019.

He was a unique personality, and these recordings underline his versatility in performing swinging jazz while giving it a highly individual comedic twist, and we hope this collection of his best sellers from the era provides an enjoyable showcase.

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