You could literally say that Cab Calloway was a Christmas gift to the jazz world. he was born on Christmas Day in 1907. He started out by performing in many of Baltimore’s jazz clubs. At the beginning of his career he followed his sister who was an accomplished bandleader. It is obvious that music was in his family lineage.

It wasn’t long before his band was performing at the Cotton Club. He was a co-host band there with Duke Ellington. Not to shabby company. Calloway’s career did not only focus on music. His voice was heard in Betty Boop cartoons.Confused? Here ‘s a little help . He was also part of several feature films and did quite a bit of dancing. It is said that he did the first version of Michael Jackson’s moon walk. In one of his movies Calloway can be seen performing a gliding back step which was very similar to Michael Jackson’s moon walk. When Calloway performed the move, it was called the buzz.

He was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz hall of fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame. He was also honored with a Grammy Lifetime achievement award in 2008. Cab Calloway passed away six months after having a stroke in 1994.