In Memoriam: Visual Memorabilia to Honor Blanche D. Calloway
Memories in Picture from The Blanche D. Calloway Foundation Photo Gallery
Below are six images reflecting the musical career of Blanche D. Calloway:
Blanche Calloway made her professional debut in Baltimore in 1921 with Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle's musical Shuffle Along. Her big break came in 1923 on the national tour for Plantation Days, which featured her idol, Florence Mills. The show ended in 1927 in Chicago, and Calloway decided to stay there, as it was the jazz capital of the world during the time. The club, the Sunset, became her main stage and where her brother Cab Calloway likewise worked. Blanche Calloway became popular in the Chicago scene, and she would continue to tour nationally, performing at New York's Ciro Club in the mid-1920s. In 1925, Blanche recorded two blues songs, accompanied by Louis Armstrong and Richard M. Jones; this has been noted as the first inception of her Joy Boys orchestra
Video Memories -- Growlin' Dan Blanche Calloway's Theme Song!
Below the Photo Gallery is a video that features Blanche Calloway's theme song --
Gowlin' Dan:
Between 1931 and 1938, Blanche Calloway headed her own all-male band—Blanche Calloway and Her Joy Boys, and later Blanche Calloway and Her Orchestra—which included some of the top musicians of the day. Appearing at New York's exclusive African-American theaters, the band played the Lafayette, the Harlem Opera House, and the Apollo. With their theme song "Growlin' Dan," they performed across the United States and recorded frequently for Victor. In a survey conducted by the Pittsburgh Courier in 1931, Blanche Calloway's band ranked 9th of 38, only 5 slots behind Louis Armstrong. A reviewer for the Courier called her "one of the most progressive performers in the profession."