Unbelievable video I stumbled across on YouTube - “Origins of the Moonwalk”
Rarely can I recall the inception/process which takes place in order for me to make a post, so I’ll go through the chain of events so I can share some of the other cool things I discovered along my path to (moonwalk) enlightenment.
About 30 minutes prior to the authoring of this post, I stumbled across this video for Cab Calloway’s “St. James Infirmary Blues” on The Daily What. Being vaguely familiar with that song, I decided it would be interesting to see this cartoon depiction of it being performed by Cab Calloway (I had only heard it performed by others until that point). After hitting play, my jaw was nailed to the floor as I watched a haunting video of epic awesomeness. I needed more.
I then proceeded to Google Cab Calloway while simultaneously searching YouTube for more video clips of this incredible musician I had not known until now. What I found on YouTube did not disappoint, and delivered much ass-kicking.
Here are some gems:
Cab Calloway performing St. James Infirmary Blues (link) I wish I could embed this video in the post, but watching this performance really sold me on Mr. Calloway (DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND WATCH IT). His passion for performing and the level of his talent is very evident, and it cannot be described as anything less than phenomenal; truly soulful.
Cab Calloway performing his biggest (most recognizable to me anyways) hit, Minnie the Moocher:
This video was my first real glimpse at the dancing side of Cab’s skill set (more on this later). This guy is truly a musician in every sense of the word.
Cab Calloway performing Reefer Man:
I really like this one, too. The way Cab’s hair is flopping on his head makes me feel like he’s a person who’s given himself completely to the music, and he cannot control himself while singing/dancing. Amazeballs. To quote the guy at the end of that video: “It’s wonderful”. LOL.
After watching these crazy cool videos, I switched tabs over to his Wikipedia entry, and this quote prompted me to perform my next search on YouTube: “In these films, Calloway can be seen performing a gliding backstep dance move, the precursor to Michael Jackson’s “moonwalk”. It was when I searched for “Cab Calloway Moonwalk”, that I found the awesome “Origins of the Moonwalk” video.
Phew.
Anyhow, I’m really happy that I learned about Cab Calloway today. I truly appreciate the man’s talents and passion, and am glad I found a new performer to add to my “jazz” playlist.
They just don’t make them like they used to, do they?




