Cab Calloway

THE RECENT death of Cab Calloway brings to mind the many great black entertainers who spent much of their formative years in Baltimore. The list includes Eubie Blake, Billie Holiday, Avon Long, Bill Kenny of the Ink Spots singing group and Ethel Ennis. Such internationally known artists have lots of stories about their climb up the ladder of fame, but few probably can match that of "the King of Hi-De-Ho."Cab Calloway, a swing-era singer, band leader and actor, in an interview once recalled how he quite by chance joined a band: "I was hanging around with a gang on Druid Hill Avenue and North [Avenue]

It's not often in judging the biography of a great artist that you can just pick up the phone and call one of the people who knew him best - and remains a principal keeper of the historical flame. But that is exactly the case with Cab Calloway, the Baltimore-raised jazz bandleader, singer and actor who is profiled in TV's "American Masters" series at 10 p.m. Monday on PBS. Camay Calloway Murphy, the performer's daughter, lives here and is happy to talk about her late father and how she feels he is treated in "American Masters Cab Calloway: Sketches.

Bernice Eulalia Calloway Monroe, who was host of a radio talk show in her native Baltimore, died Oct. 14 of pneumonia at a hospital in Ithaca, N.Y., two months after moving to nearby Dryden, N.Y.A requiem Mass for Mrs. Monroe, 88, will be offered at 10 a.m. Nov. 21 at St. James Episcopal Church, Lafayette and Arlington avenues.The former Bernice Eulalia Calloway was one of six brothers and sisters, including two who became well-known as singers and orchestra leaders,Cab Calloway, who became known as the "Hi-de-ho" man because of his rendition of "Minnie the Moocher" and whose stage credits include the role of Sportin' Life in "Porgy and Bess," is one brother.

What killed tap," Ed Terry told a bunch of hoofer enthusiasts last Sunday, "was the invention of television." Tomorrow night, Terry will do his best to revive tap. But that statement's not completely true. Tap never really died, thanks to people like Terry. Terry teaches tap dancing at the Flair Dance and Modeling Studio, a 40-year-old business run by Willia Bland and her daughter, Andrea Bland Travis. Last Sunday, on National Tap Dance Day, Terry gave a brief history of tap, along with some fundamentals of the dance form, at the School 33 Arts Center on Light Street.

Cab Calloway, the swing-era singer, actor and bandleader who soared to national popularity in the '30s and '40s on thestrength of such hits as "Minnie the Moocher" and "It Ain't Necessarily So," has died at the age of 86.The Baltimore-bred musician suffered a serious stroke June 12 at his home in Westchester County, N.Y. He died Friday, at a retirement community in Hockessin, Del. after a battle with pneumonia, with his family by his side.Famous for his jaunty, bluesy cry of "Hi-de-ho!," Mr. Calloway was one of the best-known personalities of the big band age. Although widely respected in professional circles for his skills as a bandleader -- he succeeded Duke Ellington at the famed Cotton Club in Harlem -- he enjoyed greater popular acclaim for his energy and verve onstage.

In the early years of this century, when Cab Calloway was growing up in West Baltimore's Sugar Hill, the neighborhood his family called home was considered the political, cultural and business hub of black society.He was the son of middle-class professionals. His mother, Martha Eulalia Reed, was a Morgan State College graduate who taught school. His father, Cabell Calloway, graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and worked as a lawyer.Young Cab Calloway even had his own car in high school -- a used 1923 Oldsmobile he'd bought with $275 he'd earned working -- a rarity in that era, particularly for a black man."

Cab CallowayServices scheduledServices for entertainer Cab Calloway will be held at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 112th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, New York City.Mr. Calloway, who grew up in Baltimore, died Friday of pneumonia at a retirement community in Hockessin, Del. He was 86.

What: Jazz at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion Where: 11 W. Mount Vernon Place When: 2 p.m. Sunday. Why: Because Chris Calloway Brooks and the Nu Yook City Cotton Club Ensemble are playing in one of the prettiest rooms in Baltimore. Brooks is the grandson of band leader (and onetime Baltimorean) Cab Calloway. At the concert, Brooks will talk a bit about his grandfather's work and how it changed American music. Information: Call 410-433-0354. Admission: Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at www.missiontix.

New York -- Puffs of smoke rose lazily through the dark room, the brass trio wailed their opening notes and the show was under way.The smoke wasn't from cigarettes but from incense, the setting wasn't a crummy blues joint but the world's largest Gothic cathedral, and this was no ordinary gig but a star-studded send-off for Cab Calloway, the handsome, Baltimore-bred charmer who became an international star and one of the most beloved swing-era figures."

Bassist Milt Hinton once recalled how Cab Calloway's big band traveled in grand style in its own Pullman train. Once he peeked into the baggage car and his eyes "nearly popped out. In the middle of all these trunks and instruments was Cab's big green Lincoln. . . Everywhere Cab went he took that beautiful car with him, and when he got into a town the rest of us would get taxis, but Cab would roll that old Linc down off the train, with his coonskin coat on and a fine Homburg or derby, and drive off. . ."

Every day, Derek Kang used to chase 20 to 30 people he suspected of dealing drugs out of the vestibule of Sweet Sixteen, a women's clothing store he manages on Pennsylvania Avenue. Now it's down to just one or two, he said, after Baltimore police began a new strategy to eradicate one of the city's largest open-air drug markets: Take away the parking. Business has been down since late fall, when orange "No Stopping" bags first appeared on the meters lining four blocks of the West Baltimore commercial district, and Kang and other merchants along the strip have felt the impact on their bottom line.

Sharon Clark was no longer a bespectacled 45-year-old receptionist yesterday. Dressed in a shimmering black-and-gold striped top, Clark stood onstage of the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall channeling Billie Holiday. With eyes shut and hips swinging, she sang "Just Friends" in a rich, deep voice, sprinkling in scat phrases and electrifying the audience, which rose in a standing ovation. "Just friends, lovers no more. Just friends, but not like before," crooned Clark, the winner of the annual Billie Holiday Vocal Competition, who was accompanied by a pianist.

What: Jazz at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion Where: 11 W. Mount Vernon Place When: 2 p.m. Sunday. Why: Because Chris Calloway Brooks and the Nu Yook City Cotton Club Ensemble are playing in one of the prettiest rooms in Baltimore. Brooks is the grandson of band leader (and onetime Baltimorean) Cab Calloway. At the concert, Brooks will talk a bit about his grandfather's work and how it changed American music. Information: Call 410-433-0354. Admission: Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at www.missiontix.

That hi-de-ho man from Baltimore, Cab Calloway, was the ultimate hepcat, the zoot-suited jitterbug who led one of America's most popular orchestras through all of the swing era. Calloway performed in the hepster's knee-length drape coat, high-top, voluminous, peg pants and wide-brimmed fedora, all usually blazing white, along with the mandatory dangling gold watch chains - while conducting one of the country's finest jazz bands. Sometimes he nodded slightly toward convention and appeared in white tie and tails.

Baltimoreans might know that abolitionist Frederick Douglass, civil rights pioneer Thurgood Marshall and jazz great Cab Calloway all called Charm City home. City leaders hope to promote those legends to the world with the latest and most ambitious push to market Baltimore's African-American history and legacies to visitors. Mayor Martin O'Malley and the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association unveiled yesterday Baltimore's African American Heritage and Attraction Guide. The glossy 25-page guide includes an overview of the city's black history and details on cultural landmarks and museums.

When your father was a legendary entertainer, how do you build a showbiz career for yourself? If you're singer/actress Cecilia Calloway -- one of five daughters born to Baltimore bandleader Cab Calloway -- you simply do what you love. "When I was very young, I went on the road with my dad, singing and dancing. I hated it," chuckles Calloway, who grew up in New York and currently lives in Columbia. "My life took a different turn, raising three children. But I missed entertaining. I am committed to doing this.

Harriet Browne, 65, a tap dancer who toured with Cab Calloway in the 1950s and later danced with the Silverbelles, died Monday in New York after a long illness.Kaaren Erickson, 44, a soprano who sang at the Metropolitan Opera, died Saturday in Maryville, Tenn., after a two-year battle with cancer.James Wear Walker, 90, the uncle of President George Bush and son of the founder of golf's Walker Cup, died Saturday in Hobe Sound, Fla. An avid golfer, he was the son of George Herbert Walker, the founder of the Walker Cup competition, an international tournament for amateur golfers.

EUBIE BLAKE, Cab Calloway, Chick Webb. They and countless other Baltimore jazz greats will be honored at the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center, which dedicates its new home on Howard St. this weekend. Friday's grand opening and Sunday's family day highlight the new possibilities of the Eubie Blake center, which has been leading a vagabond existence ever since a fire in 1993 forced it out of its previous home. With 21,000 square feet in a building that once was part of the Maryland General Hospital, the Eubie Blake center will finally have room to thrive and grow.

Bottle show Serious and novice collectors can search for rare bottles at the Baltimore Antique Bottle Club's 21st annual Bottle Show and Sale from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday in the Athletic Center, Essex campus of the Community College of Baltimore County, 7201 Rossville Blvd. In addition to antique bottles of all shapes and sizes, jugs, tins, jars, pottery and small antiques will be displayed by dealers from 20 states and two foreign countries. Educational exhibits and free bottle appraisals are also offered.

Roy L. "Tanglefoot" McCoy, a jazz trumpeter whose 60-year career took him from the stage of Baltimore's Royal Theater to New York's famed Apollo Theater, died Monday of pneumonia at St. Agnes HealthCare. He was 80 and had lived in Baltimore. Mr. McCoy was an integral part of the Baltimore music scene for more than 60 years. He played with some of America's greatest jazz artists, including Louis Armstrong and Lionel Hampton. In addition to the famed Royal on Pennsylvania Avenue, a major stop for African-American entertainers, he played the Ritz, the largest club on The Avenue, and other local clubs.