Cab Calloway
Date1933
Artist
Carl Van Vechten
(American author and photographer, 1880–1964)
MediumGelatin silver print
Dimensionssheet: 8 7/8 × 6 11/16 in. (22.5 × 17 cm)
Credit LineAcquisition Fund, 2023
Object number2023-27
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPHOTOGRAPH
Label TextCab Calloway (1907–1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. After years of playing and singing in jazz clubs in Baltimore and Chicago, Calloway moved to New York where he found fame at the Savoy Ballroom and the Cotton Club. His most famous song, "Minnie the Moocher," was recorded in 1931 and was the first single by an African American to sell over one million copies. Calloway had a long and illustrious career in jazz, collaborating with other leaders in the field, touring internationally, writing books, and appearing in films and on television.This photograph pictures him during his years headlining the Cotton Club as "The Hi De Ho Man," so named because of the refrain of "Minnie the Moocher." He is wearing a white silk suit and holding a baton indicating his role as a bandleader.
