The Cab Calloway Orchestra rocked the house! They swung hard all night long, they al— played their tails off, the charts are gorgeous! The band was fantastic. I love it!" CBS’s Paul Shaffer of The Late Show with David Letterman
Jammin’ in July Concert Series presents
CAB CALLOWAY ORCHESTRA
WHEN: Sunday, July 14, 8 PM
WHERE: The Lackland Center on the campus of Centenary College, at 715 Grand Avenue in Hackettstown
TICKETS: $30 in advance and $35 on the day of the performance, with discounts for children under 12 years of age, and they can be purchased online www.centenarystageco.org or by calling the CSC Box Office 908.979.0900. Box office hours are 1-5 PM Monday through Friday, and 2 hours prior to each performance. A special discounted Jammin’ in July Summer Concert Series Flex Pass subscription is available, offering three events for $75.00 per person.
The heir to “Hi-De-Ho”, Chris Calloway Brooks leads this fabled 12-piece orchestra, with charismatic showmanship, irresistible rhythms, and red-hot lyrics that the Cab Calloway Orchestra has been famous for since the 1920s. The grandson of the great band-leader, Calloway-Brooks, and the orchestra deliver both the authentic sound of a “Hot Jazz Orchestra” and a dynamic stage style, introducing the Jump, Blues, and Boogie experience of Swing and Jive.
The Calloway Orchestra became famous for its hot, unpretentious sound that featured confident soloists, simple, effective and highly rhythmic lyrics, precision section work, a driving Kansas City style rhythm section, low ranging saxophone writing, big powerful wails, uninhibited attitude, broad emotional range, and blues grounded inflection, and the charismatic singing and band leading of Cab Calloway. It is multifaceted, open, fun loving, and has elements of Swing, Dixieland, Blues, European Classical, Boogie Woogie, early Be-Bop, early Rock, early R&B, and a host of other musical styles. It always has a dramatic flair, and an enduring universal appeal to all sorts of audiences.
The Calloway theme song “Minnie The Moocher,” was one of Cab’s many memorable works of American Urban Folklore about the culture and nightlife of Harlem. It became so popular that “Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-ho” became a catch phrase throughout the world. “Minnie” was innovative in its use of responsorial audience participation. As a major part of the Harlem Renaissance, Cab and his Orchestra recorded a whole series of songs following “Minnie The Moocher” that referenced the hip subculture of Harlem, and Cab’s special Urban Folklore of the era including: “Zaz Zuh Zaz,” “The Ghost of Smoky Joe,” “You Gotta Hi-De-Ho,” “Jitter Bug,” “The Man from Harlem” “The Scat Song” and “Harlem Hospitality,” all of which were wildly popular.
Now led by the younger Calloway, the orchestra, is known for honoring the past with an eye to the future. With catchphrases such as "Hi-De-Ho" and "Are you all reet?" the Calloway influence brings the call-and-response tradition into big-band jazz.
Other upcoming events in the CSC 2012 Summer Series include Sarah Borges in concert (July 21), Smokey Joe’s Café (July 26-29) and Beatlemania Now! (Aug4).
The Jammin’ in July Summer Series at Centenary Stage Company is made possible in part by a grant from Premiere Sponsors Heath Village Retirement Community and Fulton Bank. Additional support comes from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, and CSC members and sponsors.
