What It Was Really Like At The Cotton Club

As the 1985 documentary "The Cotton Club Remembered" confirms, there were several big names in jazz whose careers were launched at the Cotton Club: Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Josephine Baker, just to name a few. As per Vialma Classical, it was Ellington who first became a prominent figure at the Cotton Club. In 1927,

As the 1985 documentary "The Cotton Club Remembered" confirms, there were several big names in jazz whose careers were launched at the Cotton Club: Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Josephine Baker, just to name a few. As per Vialma Classical, it was Ellington who first became a prominent figure at the Cotton Club. In 1927, the Cotton Club was already the poshest, most popular venue in Harlem when they hired Ellington to lead the house band. He would call it "the Washingtonians." As per Harlem World Magazine, Ellington's first show was called "Rhythmania," and he performed alongside Adelaide Hall, who would become one of the most famous feminine voices in American jazz. Ellington led the house band between December 4, 1927, and June 30, 1931. During this time, he composed many of his jazz masterpieces, including "Black and Tan Fantasy," "Mood Indigo," and "Creole Rhapsody" (via Britannica). By the time his Cotton Club residency ended in 1931, Ellington was famous worldwide, going on European tours throughout the 1930s.

After Ellington and his orchestra left the Cotton Club in 1931, Cab Calloway took over and became leader of the house band until 1934. As per Financial Times, it was during this time that Calloway wrote his famous song "Minnie the Moocher." Toward the end of Calloway's residence — and the beginning of Jimmie Lunceford's — the Cotton Club had their highest grossing shows and an unprecedented peak in popularity.

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