HERB JEFFRIES

Herb Jeffries, though never truly a jazz vocalist, stood as the final surviving participant from Duke Ellington’s 1940 orchestra while earning recognition as an expressive performer of swing material and ballads. Early engagements took him alongside Erskine Tate during the initial years of the 1930s, then with Earl Hines from 1931 to 1934 and Blanche Calloway, after which he became the first Black actor to portray a cowboy in a run of Western films from that decade. Peak visibility arrived during his Ellington tenure spanning 1940 to 1942, anchored by the major success of “Flamingo.” A 1940 session with Sidney Bechet preceded his departure from the band; thereafter Jeffries operated independently, cutting records sporadically and sustaining performances through the mid-1990s. On May 25, 2014, he passed away in West Hills, California, reportedly from heart failure.