St. James Infirmary – 1964
Cab Calloway
Calloway makes the vintage standard his own
Click here to Support Jazz on the Tube
“St. James Infirmary” was first recorded in jazz by Louis Armstrong in 1928.
It caught on quickly and by the end of 1930 there were many recordings of the song including a classic rendition by Cab Calloway.
Calloway was a masterful entertainer, a skilled jazz singer, and an often outlandish performer.
On an edition of the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, he displays his full range during a typically enthusiastic and occasionally over-the-top version of “St. James Infirmary,” accompanied by an unseen orchestra that is as colorful as his singing.
-Scott Yanow
Ella Fitzgerald