Billy Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, best remembered for his long-time collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington that lasted nearly three decades. Though classical music was Strayhorn's first love, his ambition to become a classical composer went unrealized because of the harsh reality of a black man trying to make his way in the world of classical music, which at that time was almost completely white. He was introduced to the music of pianists like Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson at age 19, and the artistic influence of these musicians guided him into the realm of jazz, where he remained for the rest of his life. This photograph of Strayhorn was taken by William P. Gottlieb in the 1940s.

Cab Calloway (1907–94) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, the nation's premier jazz venue at the time, where he was a regular performer. He was a master of energetic scat singing, which he learned from Louis Armstrong, and led one of most popular African American big bands from the start of the 1930s through the late 1940s. His most famous song was "Minnie the Moocher", which was used in a Betty Boop cartoon of the same name. In addition to music, Calloway was an actor, appearing both in films and in musical theatre.