Calloway, Cab. (1907-1994) Signed Photograph with the Cab Calloway Orchestra

Evocative 10 x 8 inch doubleweight Mills Artist Bureau promotional photograph of Calloway at the center of his orchestra, signed diminutively in blue ink with his name alone in the center of the image. A few light creases and small stains to margins, overall in fine condition, a rare early example. The Cab Calloway Orchestra, based at the exclusive Cotton Club in Harlem, was, for more than a decade, one of the most important jazz bands in America. Different lineups featured the best available established musicians. Hired in 1930 to replace Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, the ensemble recorded extensively in the 30s and, when the Club closed in 1940, toured until they broke up in the late 1940s.