Cab Kaye
Jazz Singer
English-Ghanaian-Dutch jazz artist who became known for combining African and Ghanaian music with blues, bebop, stride, and scat.
He first played a timpani, which was taught to him by a Canadian soldier.
His native land became Ghana on March 6, 1957, after it gained its independence. Kaye fully embraced the new republic and worked with the Ghana High Commission beginning in 1961, earning the nickname "Swinging Diplomat."
He was born into a musical family; his father was a musician, band leader, pianist, and percussionist and his grandfather was an organist. Kaye's great-grandfather was an Asafo warrior drummer.
His greatest influence was Billie Holiday.