Profile on Cab Calloway

Shatheia Timmons Word Count: 1,188   ENC1102   Prof. Simmons   Cab Calloway: The Hi-De-Ho Man   Cab Calloway, the legendary "Hi De Ho" man, was an energetic showman, gifted singer, talented actor and trendsetting fashion plate. A truly "larger than life" figure in American pop culture, immortalized in cartoons and caricatures, Calloway also led one of the greatest bands of the Swing Era. Consistently ranked among the top bands of the 1930s and 1940s, Calloway's orchestra entertained millions during its heyday, and the bandleader himself continued thrilling audiences up until the time of his death.   Happily, before it was too late, Calloway, who loved being called “a living legend,” began receiving some renewed, overdue acknowledgement; the music room at the School of the Arts in Baltimore was named in his honor in 1983; Cab was a recipient of the Ebony Lifetime Achievement Award in 1985. The Negro Actors' Guild honored him during a benefit at the Shubert Theatre in New York City, in 1988. Calloway was presented with the Beacons in Jazz Award, from the New School for Social Research in New York City, in 1990. In September 1994, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, conducted by Gunther Schuller, included “Harlem Camp Meeting,” “Evenin',” and “Cupid's Nightmare,” arrangements which the Calloway band had performed some 60 years before, as part of a swing era celebration concert in Washington, D.C. Cab received the coveted National Medal of the Arts, received in a White House ceremony in October 1993.   Cab died the night of November 18, 1994, at the age of 86, with his family at his side. [continues]

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