Albert George Hibbler was an American baritone vocalist, who sang with Duke Ellington's orchestra before having several pop hits as a solo artist. Some of Hibbler's singing is classified as rhythm and blues, but he is best seen as a bridge between R&B and traditional pop music. According to one authority, "Hibbler cannot be regarded as a jazz singer but as an exceptionally good interpreter of twentieth-century popular songs who happened to work with some of the best jazz musicians of the time."
Hibbler in 1946
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life.
Publicity portrait, c. 1940s
British pressing of "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" (1927)
Adelaide Hall recorded Creole Love Call with Ellington in 1927. The recording became a worldwide hit.
Duke Ellington at the Hurricane Club, Broadway & W. 51St, New York City, May 1943