The Cab Calloway Orchestra

Close your eyes and you can almost hear it: the baton cutting through the air, the zoot suit spinning under the lights, the whole room bouncing as one voice shouts “Hi-De-Ho”. Cab Calloway was one of the great showmen of the twentieth century, and the orchestra he built at the Cotton Club in the late 1920s launched some of the most legendary names in jazz history. Now, his grandson C. Calloway Brooks keeps that fire burning.

• A Legacy That Reads Like a Jazz Encyclopedia: The musicians who passed through Cab Calloway’s orchestra over the decades include Dizzy Gillespie, Ben Webster, Illinois Jacquet, Milt Hinton, Benny Carter, and Cozy Cole. Working from the band’s original vintage orchestrations, the Cab Calloway Orchestra delivers that same authentic sound with a modern big band’s power and precision.
• Showmanship in the Blood: The Calloway family has been dazzling audiences since the 1920s, and C. Calloway Brooks carries that tradition with the same snazzy stage style and irresistible energy that made his grandfather an icon. From Birdland in New York City to jazz venues across the country, this orchestra knows how to delight a room.
• Jump, Blues, Boogie, and Beyond: This is not a museum piece. The Cab Calloway Orchestra delivers a full-throttle swing experience, rooted in history but completely alive in the moment, the kind of show that has audiences on their feet and singing along before they even realize it.

Come ready to jump, jive, and holler Hi-De-Ho.