Calloway, Cab - Jive Formation Please! (Mega Blowout Sale)
SKU
Recall SMDCD 521
This isn’t from Cab’s most famous period, which was 8-10 years earler, but Cab was justifiably proud of his band, which was always filled with great musicians, and he continued making great jive and swing as long as he had his regular big band (until the late 40s).
“The Jazztory label's two-volume history covering the more obscure side of Cab Calloway's Orchestra during the 1930s and early '40s concludes with Jiveformation Please, a 50-track collection spanning 1938 to 1941.
Collectors will rejoice in the plethora of obscure instrumental tracks ("Rustle of Swing," "Floogie Walk," "Trylon Swing," "Pluckin' the Bass") which show off the tight swinging band led by Doc Cheatham, Cozy Cole, and Chu Berry. Only about half of the tracks ("Utt-Da-Zay," "Hep-Hep! The Jumpin' Jive," "Are You All Reet?," the title track) are actually vocal features for Calloway himself, however, and few of his best-known hits are present.
Though it may not suit fans of his novelty hits, Jiveformation Please is a true swing fan's dream come true.”
“One of the great entertainers, Cab Calloway was a household name by 1932, and never really declined in fame. A talented jazz singer and a superior scatter, Calloway's gyrations and showmanship on-stage at The Cotton Club sometimes overshadowed the quality of his always excellent bands. The younger brother of singer Blanche Calloway (who made some fine records before retiring in the mid-'30s), Cab grew up in Baltimore, attended law school briefly, and then quit to try to make it as a singer and a dancer.
For a time, he headed the Alabamians, but the band was not strong enough to make it in New York. The Missourians, an excellent group that had previously recorded heated instrumentals but had fallen upon hard times, worked out much better. Calloway worked in the 1929 revue Hot Chocolates, started recording in 1930, and in 1931 hit it big with both "Minnie the Moocher" and his regular engagement at The Cotton Club. Calloway was soon (along with Bill Robinson, Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington) the best-known Black entertainer of the era.
Calloway's sidemen through the years (who received some of the highest salaries in the business) were Walter "Foots" Thomas, Bennie Payne, Doc Cheatham, Eddie Barefield, Shad Collins, Cozy Cole, Danny Barker, Milt Hinton, Mario Bauza, Chu Berry, Dizzy Gillespie, Jonah Jones, Tyree Glenn, Panama Francis, and Ike Quebec.”-Scott Yanow
- LabelRecall
- UPC636551452120