Cab Calloway: Sketches

Calloway was also an ambassador for his race, leading one of the most popular African American big bands during the Harlem Renaissance and jazz and swing eras of the 1930s-40s. American Masters celebrates "The Hi De Ho Man's" legacy during Black History Month with the documentary Cab Calloway: Sketches premiering nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).

Lou Marini (saxophone), Steve Cropper (guitar), and Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass) tell a story about a time when Cab Calloway sang "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess while walking to their respective elevators. Cab Calloway: Sketches premieres nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). In the New York metro-area the film airs Sunday, February 26 at 8 p.m. on THIRTEEN.

Chris Calloway Brooks, musician and current director of the Cab Calloway Orchestra, discusses his grandfather Cab Calloway's accomplishments and style. Cab Calloway: Sketches premieres nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). In the New York metro-area the film airs Sunday, February 26 at 8 p.m. on THIRTEEN.

Jazz writer Gary Giddens and jazz critic/cultural historian Stanley Crouch tell one of the great stories about the rivalry between Cab Calloway and Dizzy Gillespie, both eccentric performers in their own right, when Gillespie played trumpet in Calloway's band. Cab Calloway: Sketches premieres nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).

Horn player Gerald Wilson, jazz writer Gary Giddens, and jazz critic/cultural historian Stanley Crouch discuss how Cab's straight hair, unusual in people of African American descent, and his ability to toss it while performing, played into his persona and popularity as an entertainer. Cab Calloway: Sketches premieres nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (check local listings).

Danny Holgate plays a section of George Gershwin's "Ain't Necesarily So" from Porgy and Bess, a song sung by a Cab inspired character, in an outtake from the documentary Cab Calloway: Sketches. Cab Calloway: Sketches premieres nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). In the New York metro-area the film airs Sunday, February 26 at 8 p.m. on THIRTEEN.