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Who popularized scat singing?
Big Bands and Bandmasters
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Cab (Cabell) Calloway III (1907–1994) was a renowned bandleader, singer, and entertainer. Born in Rochester, New York, Calloway and his family later moved to Chicago, where he studied at Crane College. He was an important big band leader of the 1930s and 1940s and used as his theme song “St. James Infirmary.” He played at the Cotton Club, calling his band the Cab Calloway Cotton Club Orchestra, and later the Cab Calloway Band. He remained popular after the Big Band Era, appearing in several movies, including the role of Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess (1953), Stormy Weather (1943), Hello Dolly (1967), and The Blues Brothers (1980). He was a flamboyant dresser who often performed in a zoot suit—his most famous was yellow, with a matching hat—and pleased his audiences with his famous scat singing style, “Hi-de-ho-de-ho-de-hee,” which he championed. His most popular song was “Minnie the Moocher.” He remains a legendary jazz figure in African and African-American culture.
