Cab Calloway

Cab Calloway (1907-1994):

 By Greenburgh Town Historians

Cab Calloway was a famous jazz singer and musician. Cab Calloway was born on December 25th, 1907 in Rochester, New York. He spent his childhood in Baltimore Maryland, before moving to Chicago Illinois to study law at Crane College. His heart was never really in it however, his true passion was singing. He frequently performed at Chicago’s famous Sunset Club as part of The Alabamians. After meeting Louis Armstrong and learning the style of scat singing, he dropped out of law school, left Chicago, and moved to New York to pursue a full-time career as a singer. In 1930, Cab Calloway and his Orchestra were regular performers at one of the most popular clubs in New York, Harlem’s Cotton Club. 

His most famous song, which sold more than one million copies, is “Minnie the Moocher” (1931) (https://www.biography.com/people/cab-calloway-9235609). In 1955, he moved to Greenburgh and settled into a 12 room House on Knollwood Avenue. 

While there, he performed in the famous opera, “Porgy and Bess” (https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/14cabwe.html).

He received the National Medal of the Arts in 1993 and died a year later in Hockessin, Delaware (https://www.biography.com/people/cab-calloway-9235609). 

He is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery located on 280 Secor Road Hartsdale, NY 10530. Jazz music is deeply rooted in the cultural DNA of Parkway Gardens/ Parkway Homes because in addition to Jazz singer Cab Calloway, jazz pianist Hazel Scott also lived there.