Herb Jeffries

by Scott YanowAlthough not really a jazz singer, Herb Jeffries was the last surviving member of the 1940 Duke Ellington Orchestra and a fine interpreter of swing songs and ballads. He performed with Erskine Tate in the early '30s, Earl Hines (1931-1934), and Blanche Calloway, before becoming the first black cowboy actor in a series of '30s Westerns. He gained his greatest fame while with Ellington (1940-1942), having a big hit in "Flamingo." Jeffries, who recorded with Sidney Bechet in 1940, worked as a single after leaving Ellington in 1942, recording on an occasional basis and remaining active into the mid-'90s.