Editing Cab Calloway (section)

== Music career ==

=== 1927–1929: Early career ===
In 1927, Calloway joined his older sister, [[Blanche Calloway]], on tour for the popular black musical revue ''[[Plantation Days]]''.<ref name=":6" /> His sister became an accomplished bandleader before him, and he often credited her as his inspiration for entering show business.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lloyd|first=Robin|title=Black History Month: The Bold Blanche Calloway|url=https://www.knkx.org/post/black-history-month-bold-blanche-calloway|access-date=March 26, 2021|website=www.knkx.org|date=February 25, 2021|language=en}}</ref> Calloway's mother wanted him to be a lawyer like his father, so once the tour ended he enrolled at [[Crane College]] in Chicago, but he was more interested in singing and entertaining. While at Crane he refused the opportunity to play basketball for the [[Harlem Globetrotters]] to pursue a singing career.<ref name=":1" />

Calloway spent most of his nights at ‘[[Black and tan clubs]]’ such as Chicago's Dreamland Café, [[Sunset Cafe]], and Club Berlin, performing as a singer, drummer, and master of ceremonies.<ref name=":6" /> At Sunset Cafe, he was an understudy for singer [[Adelaide Hall]]. There he met and performed with [[Louis Armstrong]], who taught him to sing in the [[Scat singing|scat]] style. He left school to sing with the Alabamians band.<ref name="Ossman">{{cite news |last1=Ossman |first1=David |title=Cab Calloway: 'A Hi De Ho Centennial'|url=https://www.npr.org/2007/12/26/17408371/cab-calloway-a-hi-de-ho-centennial|newspaper=NPR.org |access-date=June 16, 2021}}</ref>

In 1929, Calloway relocated to New York with the band. They opened at the [[Savoy Ballroom]] on September 20, 1929. When the Alabamians broke up, Armstrong recommended Calloway as a replacement singer in the musical revue ''[[Connie's Hot Chocolates]]''.<ref name=":6" /> He established himself as a vocalist singing "[[Ain't Misbehavin' (song)|Ain't Misbehavin']]" by [[Fats Waller]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite magazine|date=August 14, 1993|title=Catchin' Cab: The Magic of Calloway|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6BEEAAAAMBAJ&q=cab&pg=PA61|magazine=Billboard|page=3}}</ref> While Calloway was performing in the revue, [[The Missourians (band)|the Missourians]] asked him to front their band.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McClellan|first=Lawrence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oit7y0bS4MUC&q=savoy+cab+calloway+1929&pg=PA90|title=The Later Swing Era, 1942 to 1955|date=2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-30157-5|page=90|language=en}}</ref>


=== 1930–1955: Success ===
In 1930, [[The Missourians (band)|the Missourians]] became known as [[The Cab Calloway Orchestra|Cab Calloway and His Orchestra]]. At the [[Cotton Club]] in Harlem, New York, the band was hired in 1931 to substitute for the [[Duke Ellington]] Orchestra while Ellington's band was on tour. Their popularity led to a permanent position. The band also performed twice a week for radio broadcasts on [[NBC]]. Calloway appeared on radio programs with [[Walter Winchell]] and [[Bing Crosby]] and was the first African American to have a nationally syndicated radio show.<ref name="Brooks" /> During the depths of the [[Great Depression]], Calloway was earning $50,000 a year at 23 years old.<ref name=":7" />[[File:Cab Calloway as Bandleader (Van Vechten portrait -2).jpg|thumb|left|Calloway by [[Carl Van Vechten]], 1933|alt=]]In 1931, Calloway recorded his most famous song, "[[Minnie the Moocher]]". It was the first single record by an African American to sell a million copies.<ref name="Brooks" /> Calloway performed the song and two others, "[[St. James Infirmary Blues]]" and "The Old Man of the Mountain", in the [[Betty Boop]] cartoons ''[[Minnie the Moocher (Betty Boop cartoon)|Minnie the Moocher]]'' (1932), ''[[Snow-White (1933 film)|Snow-White]]'' (1933), and ''[[The Old Man of the Mountain (film)|The Old Man of the Mountain]]'' (1933). Calloway performed voice-over for these cartoons, and through [[rotoscoping]], his dance steps were the basis of the characters' movements.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://laughingsquid.com/how-rotoscope-cab-calloway-changed-animation/|title=How the Rotoscope and Cab Calloway Changed the Way Animated Characters Move|date=December 4, 2019|website=Laughing Squid|language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Iiif-public music musgottlieb-00951-002 0001-0x46x869x978-408x-0-default.jpg|thumb|Calloway by William Gottlieb, 1947]]
As a result of the success of "Minnie the Moocher", Calloway became identified with its chorus, gaining the nickname "The Hi De Ho Man".<ref name="nyt_obit">{{cite news|author=Wilson, John S.|title=Cab Calloway&nbsp;Is Dead at 86; 'Hi-de-hi-de-ho' Jazz Man|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 20, 1994|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/20/obituaries/cab-calloway-is-dead-at-86-hi-de-hi-de-ho-jazz-man.html|access-date=July 6, 2019}}</ref> He performed in the 1930s in a series of short films for [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]]. Calloway's and Ellington's groups were featured on film more than any other jazz orchestras of the era. In these films, Calloway can be seen performing a gliding backstep dance move, which some observers have described as the precursor to [[Michael Jackson]]'s [[moonwalk (dance)|moonwalk]]. Calloway said 50 years later, "it was called The Buzz back then."<ref name="DiLorenzo1985">{{cite journal |last=DiLorenzo |first=Kris |date=April 1985 |title=The Arts. Dance: Michael Jackson did not invent the Moonwalk |journal=The Crisis |volume=92 |number=4 |issn=0011-1422 |page=143 |quote=Shoot&nbsp;... We did that back in the 1930s! Only it was called The Buzz back then.}}</ref> The 1933 film ''[[International House (1933 film)|International House]]'' featured Calloway performing his classic song, "Reefer Man", a tune about a man who smokes [[marijuana]].<ref name="works">{{cite web |url=http://www.heptune.com/calloway.html |title=Works of Cab Calloway, Jazz Artist |access-date=January 22, 2013}}</ref> [[Fredi Washington]] was cast as Calloway's love interest in ''[[Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho]]'' (1934).<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bracks|first1=Lean'tin L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyMvBQAAQBAJ&q=Hi-De-Ho+fredi+washington+1934&pg=PA239|title=Black Women of the Harlem Renaissance Era|last2=Smith|first2=Jessie Carney|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2014|isbn=978-0-8108-8543-1|page=234|language=en}}</ref> [[Lena Horne]] made her film debut as a dancer in ''[[Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party]]'' (1935).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lefkovitz|first=Aaron|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3UIyDwAAQBAJ&q=Cab+Calloway%27s+Jitterbug+Party+lena+horne&pg=PA5|title=Transnational Cinematic and Popular Music Icons: Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, and Queen Latifah, 1917–2017|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2017|isbn=978-1-4985-5576-0|page=5|language=en}}</ref>

Calloway made his first Hollywood [[feature film]] appearance opposite [[Al Jolson]] in ''[[The Singing Kid]]'' (1936). He sang several duets with Jolson, and the film included Calloway's band and 22 Cotton Club dancers from New York.<ref>Shipton, Alyn. ''Hi-de-Ho: The Life of Cab Calloway'', Oxford University Press (2010), p. 97.</ref> According to film critic [[Arthur Knight (film critic)|Arthur Knight]], the creators of the film intended to "erase and celebrate boundaries and differences, including most emphatically the color line...when Calloway begins singing in his characteristic style – in which the words are tools for exploring rhythm and stretching melody – it becomes clear that American culture is changing around Jolson and with (and through) Calloway".<ref name="Knight">Knight, Arthur. ''Disintegrating the Musical: Black Performance and American Musical Film'', Duke University Press (2002), pp. 72–76.</ref><ref>[http://jolsonville.com/2011/02/16/jolson-and-cab-calloway-in-the-singing-kid/ "Jolson and Cab Calloway in 'The Singing Kid'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819022955/http://jolsonville.com/2011/02/16/jolson-and-cab-calloway-in-the-singing-kid/ |date=August 19, 2011 }}, A Tribute to Al Jolson.</ref>{{rp|watch}}

In 1938, Calloway released ''Cab Calloway's Cat-ologue: A "[[Hepster]]'s" Dictionary'', the first dictionary published by an African American. It became the official [[Glossary of jive talk|jive language]] reference book of the [[New York Public Library]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://flashbak.com/cab-calloways-hepsters-dictionary-a-guide-to-the-language-of-jive-1938-378657/|title=Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary: A Guide To The Language Of Jive (1938)|last=Sorene|first=Paul|date=April 26, 2017|website=Flashbak|language=en-US}}</ref> A revised version of the book was released with ''Professor Cab Calloway's Swingformation Bureau'' in 1939. He released the last edition, ''The New Cab Calloway's Hepsters Dictionary: Language of Jive,'' in 1944.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Alvarez|first=Luis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e6gwDwAAQBAJ&q=cab+calloway+|title=The Power of the Zoot: Youth Culture and Resistance During World War II|publisher=Univ of California Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-520-26154-9|pages=02–93|language=en}}</ref> On a [[BBC Radio]] documentary about the dictionary in 2014, Poet [[Lemn Sissay]] stated, "Cab Calloway was taking ownership of language for a people who, just a few generations before, had their own languages taken away."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/news/the-hepster-dictionary-was-the-first-dictionary-written-by-an-african-american|title=The 'Hepster Dictionary' Was the First Dictionary Written By an African American|last=Blakemore|first=Erin|date=August 1, 2017|website=History|language=en}}</ref>

Calloway's band in the 1930s and 1940s included many notable musicians, such as [[Ben Webster]], [[Illinois Jacquet]], [[Milt Hinton]], [[Danny Barker]], [[Doc Cheatham]], [[Edwin Swayze|Ed Swayze]], [[Cozy Cole]], [[Eddie Barefield]], and [[Dizzy Gillespie]]. Calloway later recalled, "What I expected from my musicians was what I was selling: the right notes with precision, because I would build a whole song around a scat or dance step."<ref name=":7" /> Calloway and his band formed baseball and basketball teams.<ref>[http://www.coe.ksu.edu/nlbemuseum/images/teamlarge/1930s_cab_calloway_lg.jpg Photograph of Cab Calloway's band's team] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726071220/http://coe.ksu.edu/nlbemuseum/images/teamlarge/1930s_cab_calloway_lg.jpg |date=July 26, 2010 }}, NLBE Museum, Kansas State University</ref><ref>[http://www.jazzbiographies.com/Biography.aspx?ID=2069 "Cab Calloway"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928173643/http://www.jazzbiographies.com/Biography.aspx?ID=2069 |date=September 28, 2013 }}, Jazz Biographies.</ref> They played each other while on the road, play against local semi-pro teams, and play charity games.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/rare-footage-duke-ellington-highlights-when-jazz-baseball-were-perfect-harmony-180950303/|title=Rare Footage of Duke Ellington Highlights When Jazz and Baseball Were in Perfect Harmony|last=Hasse|first=John Edward|date=April 1, 2014|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref>

In 1941, Calloway fired Gillespie from his orchestra after an onstage fracas erupted when Calloway was hit with spitballs. He wrongly accused Gillespie, who stabbed Calloway in the leg with a small knife.<ref name="groovin">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-rSc6g9RQ0C&pg=PA57 |author=Alyn Shipton |title=Groovin' High: The Life of Dizzy Gillespie |page=74 |access-date=January 22, 2013|isbn=978-0-19-534938-2 |date=July 19, 2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref>

From 1941 to 1942, Calloway hosted a weekly radio quiz show called ''The Cab Calloway Quizzicale''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ford|first=Phil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMJpAgAAQBAJ&q=The+Cab+Calloway+Quizzicale+1941&pg=PA46|title=Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-19-993992-3|pages=46–48|language=en}}</ref> Calling himself "Doctor" Calloway, it was a parody of ''The College of Musical Knowledge'', a radio contest created by bandleader [[Kay Kyser]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Wintz|first1=Cary D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z6Cs0Y1pvRAC&q=The+Cab+Calloway+Quizzicale++the+College+of+Musical+Knowledge&pg=PA207|title=Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: A-J|last2=Finkelman|first2=Paul|date=2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-57958-457-3|page=207|language=en}}</ref> During the years of [[World War II]], Calloway entertained troops in United States before they departed overseas.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/cab-calloway|title=Calloway, Cab|publisher=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref> The Calloway Orchestra also recorded songs full of social commentary including "Doing the Reactionary," "The [[Führer]]'s Got the Jitters,"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-fuehrers-got-the-jitters-mt0030387664|title=Cab Calloway & His Orchestra:The Fuehrer's Got the Jitters|publisher=All Music.com|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref> "The Great Lie," "We'll Gather Lilacs," and "My Lament for V Day."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cabcalloway.cc/notes_of_interest.htm|title=The Cab Calloway Orchestra: Notes of Interest|publisher=Cab Calloway.cc|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref>

In 1943, Calloway appeared in the film ''[[Stormy Weather (1943 film)|Stormy Weather]]'', one of the first mainstream Hollywood films with a black cast.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/cab-calloway-sketches/timeline-major-events-in-cabs-life/1994/ |title=Cab Calloway: Sketches — Timeline: Major Events in Cab's Life &#124; American Masters |publisher=PBS |date=February 21, 2012 |access-date=January 22, 2013}}</ref> The film featured other top performers of the time, including [[Bill "Bojangles" Robinson]], Lena Horne, [[the Nicholas Brothers]], and Fats Waller. Calloway would host Horne's character Selina Rogers as she performed the film's title song as part of a big all-star revue for World War II soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/katherine-dunham/articles-and-essays/notes-on-dunhams-work/stormy-weather/|title=Stormy Weather|author=Selections from the Katherine Dunham Collection|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref>

Calloway wrote a humorous pseudo-gossip column called "Coastin' with Cab" for ''Song Hits'' magazine. It was a collection of celebrity snippets, such as the following in the May 1946 issue: "[[Benny Goodman]] was dining at Ciro's steak house in New York when a very homely girl entered. 'If her face is her fortune,' Benny quipped, 'she'd be tax-free.'" In the late 1940s, however, Calloway's bad financial decisions and his gambling caused his band to break up.<ref name="Ossman" />[[File:Cabsuit.jpg|thumb|right|One of Cab Calloway's [[zoot suits]] on display in Baltimore's City Hall, October 2007]]

=== 1956–1960: Cotton Club Revue ===
Calloway and his daughter Lael recorded "Little Child", an adaption of "[[Little Boy and the Old Man]]". Released on [[ABC-Paramount]], the single charted on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] in 1956.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=February 4, 1956|title=Reviews of New Pop Records|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vB4EAAAAMBAJ&q=little+child+cab+calloway+lael&pg=PA44|magazine=Billboard|page=44}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

For the second season, Lee Sherman was the choreographer of The Cotton Club Revue of 1958, which starred Calloway. The revue featured [[tap dancing]] prodigies [[Maurice Hines]] and [[Gregory Hines]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wadler|first=Joyce|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1985/02/24/hines-on-tap/22fbd9ca-fa60-4455-ba9a-49a7f0ed223e/|title=Hines on Tap|date=February 24, 1985|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

In March 1958, Calloway released his album ''Cotton Club Revue of 1958'' on [[Gone Records]]. It was produced by [[George Goldner]], conducted and arranged by Eddie Barefield. That year, Calloway appeared in the film ''[[St. Louis Blues (1958 film)|St. Louis Blues]]'', the life story of [[W.C. Handy]], featuring [[Nat King Cole]] and [[Eartha Kitt]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=April 3, 1958|title=Handy's Film Story To Debut In St. Louis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crcDAAAAMBAJ&q=cab+calloway+st+louis+blues+jet&pg=PA61|journal=Jet|page=61}}</ref>

The Cotton Club Revue of 1959 traveled to South America for engagements in [[Rio de Janeiro]] and [[São Paulo]]. They also stopped in Uruguay and Argentina before returning to North America which included a run on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=October 22, 1959|title=Cab Calloway returns To Broadway With Fast Revue|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gkEDAAAAMBAJ&q=cab+calloway|journal=Jet|pages=60–61}}</ref>

=== 1961–1993: Later years ===
Calloway remained a household name due to TV appearances and occasional concerts in the US and Europe. In 1961 and 1962, he toured with the Harlem Globetrotters, providing halftime entertainment during games.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=November 23, 1961|title=New York Beat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=prMDAAAAMBAJ&q=cab+calloway+jet+1961&pg=PA63|journal=Jet|page=63}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=November 22, 1962|title=Cab Calloway Once Invited To Play With Trotters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=07sDAAAAMBAJ&q=cab+calloway+jet+1962&pg=PA54|journal=Jet|page=54}}</ref>

Calloway was cast as "Yeller" in the film ''[[The Cincinnati Kid]]'' (1965) with [[Steve McQueen]], [[Ann-Margret]], and [[Edward G. Robinson]]. Calloway appeared on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' on March 19, 1967, with his daughter Chris Calloway.<ref name="NewMexican">{{cite news|last1=Weideman|first1=Paul|title=Chris Calloway, 1945–2008: Jazz diva gracious in battle with cancer: Singer, bandleader knew 'show must go on'|url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.obituaries/t_WC99NE8RU|access-date= December 14, 2016|work=The New Mexican|date= August 8, 2008}}</ref> In 1967, he co-starred with [[Pearl Bailey]] as Horace Vandergelder in an all-black cast of ''[[Hello, Dolly! (musical)|Hello, Dolly!]]'' on [[Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]] during its original run. Chris Calloway also joined the cast as Minnie Fay.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lipton|first1=Brian Scott|title=Chris Calloway Dies at 62|url=http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/08-2008/chris-calloway-dies-at-62_14880.html|access-date= December 14, 2016|work=TheaterMania|date=August 12, 2008}}</ref> The new cast revived the flagging business for the show<ref>{{cite book|title=Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse: My Life in Comedy |url=https://archive.org/details/likelampshadeinw00dill |url-access=registration |last1=Diller |first1=Phyllis |author-link1=Phyllis Diller |last2=Buskin |first2=Richard |year=2005 |publisher=Penguin |location=New York |isbn=1-58542-396-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/likelampshadeinw00dill/page/210 210–211]}} [[Phyllis Diller]] was later cast in the lead of ''Hello, Dolly!'' In her memoir she commented on other cast changes by [[David Merrick]] to revive business for the show.</ref> and RCA Victor released a new cast recording, rare for the time. In 1973–74, Calloway was featured in an unsuccessful Broadway revival of ''[[The Pajama Game]]'' with [[Hal Linden]] and Barbara McNair.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

His autobiography, ''Of Minnie the Moocher and Me'' was published in 1976. It included his complete ''Hepster's Dictionary'' as an appendix. In 1978, Calloway released a [[disco]] version of "Minnie the Moocher" on RCA which reached the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|''Billboard'' R&B chart]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=September 16, 1978|title=It's Calloway & 'Minnie' Again|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ICQEAAAAMBAJ&q=minnie+the+moocher+billboard+1978&pg=PT59|magazine=Billboard|page=44}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Calloway was introduced to a new generation when he appeared in the 1980 film ''[[The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers]]'' performing "Minnie the Moocher".<ref name="Litchman1994" />

In 1985, Calloway and his Orchestra appeared at [[The Ritz London]] Hotel where he was filmed for a 60-minute [[BBC]] TV show called ''The Cotton Club Comes to the Ritz''. [[Adelaide Hall]], [[Doc Cheatham]], [[Max Roach]], and [[the Nicholas Brothers]] also appeared on the bill.<ref>[http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collection/data/79734499 "The Cotton Club remembered (Videotape)"], ''Beta.worldcat.org'', (retrieved September 6, 2014).</ref><ref>"Jazz on the Screen — A jazz and blues filmography by David Meeker: [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.jots.200014669/default.html OMNIBUS series Episode ''The Cotton Club comes to the Ritz''"], Library of Congress (retrieved 6 September 2014).</ref> A performance with the [[Cincinnati Pops Orchestra]] directed by [[Erich Kunzel]] in August 1988 was recorded on video and features a classic presentation of "Minnie the Moocher", 57 years after he first recorded it.<ref>{{YouTube|id=EqxzT4vXc1k|title=Cab Calloway Singing Minnie The Moocher (Live 1988)}}</ref>

In January 1990, Calloway performed at the [[Meyerhoff Symphony Hall]], with the [[Baltimore Symphony]].<ref name="Constantine1994">{{Cite news|last=Considine|first=J.D.|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-11-20-1994324012-story.html|title='Hi-De-Ho Man' Cab Calloway dies|date=November 20, 1994|work=The Baltimore Sun}}</ref> That year he made a cameo in [[Janet Jackson]]'s music video "[[Alright (Janet Jackson song)|Alright]]".<ref name="Litchman1994" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/bal-blackhistory-calloway-story.html|title=Cab Calloway|date=February 28, 2007|website=The Baltimore Sun}}</ref> He continued to perform at Jazz festivals, including the [[New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival]] and Greenwood Jazz.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tulsaworld.com/archive/cab-calloway-gives-receptive-greenwood-jazz-crowd-heidi-hi/article_c16aca35-ac04-56ac-a5e6-7a3291a09304.html|title=Cab Calloway Gives Receptive Greenwood Jazz Crowd Heidi Hi|last=Autman|first=Samuel|date=August 13, 1992|website=Tulsa World|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-05-03-9202090168-story.html|title=Crowds Jam New Orleans For Jamming Musicians|last=Reich|first=Howard|website=Chicago Tribune|date=May 3, 1992 |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1992, he embarked on a month-long tour of European jazz festivals.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Melvin|first=Tessa|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/14/nyregion/cab-calloway-the-loner-and-the-showman.html|title=Cab Calloway: The Loner and the Showman|date=June 14, 1992|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was booked to headline "The Jazz Connection: The Jewish and African-American Relationship," at New York City's [[Avery Fisher Hall]] in 1993, but he pulled out due to a fall at home.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Brozan|first=Nadine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/24/style/chronicle-332093.html|title=Chronicle|date=June 24, 1993|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>