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- Artist: Cab Calloway
- Rating:
- Release Date: June 10, 2003
- Type: Compilation (best of), Box set
- Genre: Jazz
Review
JSP continued its steady trawl through the discography of the swing era's most extroverted bandleader with Vol. 2: 1935-1940, the second four-disc box of Cab Calloway chronological recordings. Four years beyond his breakout with "Minnie the Moocher," Calloway was leading one of the most entertaining bands of the '30s (thanks in large part to his own frontman skills), and after the first session or two here, he began filling it with more musical talent. Ben Webster makes his first appearance midway through the first disc, for a May 1936 date, and though he only appears on 16 selections, his replacement -- Chu Berry -- lost barely a step filling in. On that same 1936 date, bassist Milt Hinton joined the rock-solid rhythm section (also including Leroy Maxey, and later Cozy Cole, on drums, and Benny Payne on piano), for a stint that would last to the end of the decade. With all the talent on display, it's a bit of a shame that Calloway continued recording so many throwaway jive novelties, but he's usually a delight in any circumstances; his 30-second introductory vocal riff on "Nagasaki" is brilliant, and he nearly breaks into laughter at his own nonsense vocals. He does a little Louis Armstrong emulation on the same track, then dips into Bing Crosby during "Save Me, Sister." It shouldn't be a surprise that Calloway dominates the proceedings, but the musicians also get in some good licks on a pair of instrumentals, "Queen Isabelle" and "Savage Rhythm." A dozen tracks, most on the fourth disc, feature a trumpet section boasting Dizzy Gillespie, Mario Bauza, and Doc Cheatham, and find the new additions making an immediate impression. Besides some of the best solos of the period, their compositional and arranging skills benefited Calloway's band tremendously -- "Chili con Conga" and "Vuelva" for Bauza, and "Pickin' the Cabbage" for Gillespie. During the late '30s, a surfeit of similar jive features often caused critics to ignore Cab Calloway & His Orchestra, but as JSP proves, the group recorded dozens of sides worthy of attention from swing fans. ~ John Bush, All Music GuideTracks
CD 1
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| A Good Sauce from the Gravy Bowl | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Irving Mills, Edwin Swayzee | (3:10) | |
| Keep That Hi-De-Hi in Your Soul | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Irving Mills, Morris White | (2:58) | |
| Miss Otis Regrets (She's Unable to Lunch Today) | (3:07) | ||
| I Ain't Got Nobody | Roger Graham, Spencer Williams, Dave Peyton | (3:04) | |
| Nagasaki | Harry Warren, Mort Dixon | (2:59) | |
| Baby Won't You Please Come Home | Clarence Williams, |
(3:16) | |
| I Love to Sing-A | Harold Arlen, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg | (3:09) | |
| You're the Cure for What Ails Me | Harold Arlen, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg | (3:05) | |
| Save Me, Sister | Harold Arlen, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg | (3:05) | |
| Love Is the Reason | Leon René, |
(3:16) | |
| When You're Smiling | (3:21) | ||
| Jes' Natch'ully Lazy | (3:12) | ||
| Are You in Love With Me Again? | (3:11) | ||
| Copper Colored Gal | John Frederick Coots, |
(2:47) | |
| Frisco Flo | John Frederick Coots, |
(3:28) | |
| The Wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Swing | John Frederick Coots, Benny Davis | (3:21) | |
| The Hi-De-Ho Miracle Man | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, |
(3:18) | |
| Don't Know If I'm Comin' or Goin' | (2:44) | ||
| My Gal Mezzanine | Leon René, |
(2:42) | |
| That Man Is Here Again | (2:39) | ||
| Reckin' | (2:59) | ||
| Congo | Morris White | (2:37) | |
| Swing, Swing, Swing | Morris White | (2:42) | |
| Wake Up and Live | Mack Gordon, Harry Revel | (2:30) | |
| Manhattan Jam | Cabell "Cab" Calloway | (2:37) |
CD 2
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Moon at Sea | Vincent Rose, |
(2:58) | |
| I'm Always in the Mood for You | John Frederick Coots, |
(2:55) | |
| She's Tall, She's Tan, She's Teriffic | John Frederick Coots, Benny Davis | (2:33) | |
| Go South Young Man | John Frederick Coots, |
(2:11) | |
| Mama, I Wanna Make Rhythm | Walter Kent, |
(3:02) | |
| Hi De Ho Romeo | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, |
(2:50) | |
| Queen Isabella | (2:46) | ||
| Savage Rhythm | John Frederick Coots, Benny Davis | (2:34) | |
| Every Day's a Holiday | Sam Coslow, |
(2:25) | |
| Jubilee | Hoagy Carmichael, |
(2:31) | |
| In an Old English Village | (3:09) | ||
| (Just an) Error in the News | Irving Mills, Will Hudson, |
(2:48) | |
| A Minor Breakdown (Rustle of Swing) | (2:28) | ||
| Bugle Blues | Irving Mills, Jack Pettis, Elmer Schoebel | (2:29) | |
| One Big Union for Two | Harold Rome | (2:56) | |
| Doing the Reactionary | Harold Rome | (2:42) | |
| Rustle of Swing | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Ralph Yaw | (3:00) | |
| Three Swings and Out | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Ralph Yaw | (2:15) | |
| I Like Music (With a Swing Like That) | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Ralph Yaw | (2:37) | |
| Foolin' With You | Morris White | (2:35) | |
| Azure | Irving Mills, Duke Ellington | (2:48) | |
| Skrontch | Irving Mills, Duke Ellington, |
(2:53) | |
| We're Breakin' Up a Lovely Affair | (3:01) | ||
| Peck-A-Doodle-Do | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Irving Mills, |
(2:51) | |
| At the Clambake Carnival | Chu Berry | (2:29) | |
| Hoy-Hoy | (2:50) | ||
| Miss Hallelujah Brown | John Frederick Coots, |
(2:23) | |
| The Conga-Conga | (2:59) |
CD 3
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| The Boogie Woogie | John Frederick Coots, |
(2:39) | |
| There's a Sunny Side to Everything | John Frederick Coots, Benny Davis | (2:27) | |
| Shout, Shout, Shout | (2:37) | ||
| Mister Paganini, Swing for Minnie | Cabell "Cab" Calloway | (2:52) | |
| Jive (Page One of the Hepster's Dictionary) | Chu Berry, Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Benny Payne | (2:57) | |
| Penguin Swing | Cabell "Cab" Calloway | (3:25) | |
| Do You Wanna Jump Children? | James Van Heusen, Willie Bryant, |
(2:25) | |
| I'm Madly in Love With You | John Frederick Coots, |
(2:59) | |
| April in My Heart | Hoagy Carmichael, |
(2:40) | |
| Blue Interlude | Irving Mills, Benny Carter, |
(2:37) | |
| F.D.R. Jones | Harold Rome | (2:23) | |
| Deep in a Dream | Eddie DeLange, James Van Heusen | (3:00) | |
| Tee-Um, Tee-Um, Tee-I, Tahiti | Teddy Powell, Howard E. Johnson, |
(2:11) | |
| Angels With Dirty Faces | Phil Spitalny, Fred Fisher | (2:57) | |
| Long, Long Ago | (2:25) | ||
| Afraid of Love | Phil Spitalny | (2:31) | |
| Ratamacue | Edgar Battle | (2:26) | |
| Ad-De-Dey | (2:44) | ||
| A New Moon and an Old Serenade | Sam Coslow | (2:37) | |
| One Look at You | Robert C. Wright, |
(2:46) | |
| The Ghost of Smokey Joe | Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler | (2:48) | |
| Floogie Walk | Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler | (2:20) | |
| Trylon Swing | Earl Bostic, Irving Mills | (2:49) | |
| Utt-Da-Zay | Irving Mills, Buck Ram | (2:57) | |
| Crescendo in Drums | Cozy Cole, Lorenz Hart, Edgar Battle, |
(2:47) | |
| (Hep-Hep!) The Jumpin' Jive | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Frank Froeba, Jack Palmer | (2:51) | |
| For the Last Time I Cried Over You | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Frank Froeba, Jack Palmer | (2:52) | |
| Twee-Twee-Tweet | Robert Maxwell, |
(2:46) |
CD 4
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Pluckin' the Bass | Roy Eldridge | (2:44) | |
| I Ain't Gettin' Nowhere Fast | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Porter Grainger, |
(2:48) | |
| Chili con Conga | Irving Mills, |
(3:02) | |
| Tarzan of Harlem | Irving Mills, Buck Ram, |
(2:49) | |
| Jiveformation, Please | Irving Mills, Buck Ram, |
(2:30) | |
| Vuelva | (2:55) | ||
| A Bee Gezindt | (2:52) | ||
| Give, Baby, Give | (2:37) | ||
| Sincere Love | Danny Barker | (2:43) | |
| Do It Again | (2:53) | ||
| Pickin' the Cabbage | Dizzy Gillespie | (2:48) | |
| Chop, Chop. Charlie Chan | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Buck Ram, Jack Palmer | (3:03) | |
| Paradiddle | Dizzy Gillespie, John Frederick Coots | (2:59) | |
| Boog It | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Buck Ram, Jack Palmer | (2:57) | |
| Calling All Bars | Leonard Feather | (2:46) | |
| Do I Care? No, No | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, |
(2:47) | |
| The Lone Arranger | Benny Carter | (2:32) | |
| Feelin' Tip Top | Buddy Feyne | (2:38) | |
| Topsy Turvy (Hard Times) | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Edgar Battle | (3:21) | |
| Hi-De-Ho Serenade | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, |
(2:52) | |
| Who's Yehoodi? | Matt Dennis, |
(3:09) | |
| Fifteen Minute Intermission | (2:54) | ||
| Rhapsody in Rhumba | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Buster Harding | (2:48) | |
| Come on with the "Come On" | Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Andy Gibson | (2:57) | |
| The Ghost of a Chance | Bing Crosby, Ned Washington, Victor Young | (3:00) | |
| Bye Bye Blues | (2:52) |
