Black and Tan 
In his first film appearance, Duke Ellington plays a down-on-his-luck composer hoping to create his next masterpiece. When his dancer wife (Fredi Washington) comes home to tell him she booked them a gig at a local club, he plays the show despite her could-be-fatal heart condition at her request. 

Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho 
Combining jazz and comedy, Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho centers the legendary songster on a train ride to perform in the famed Cotton Club. After the train’s Pullman porter (Sidney Easton) hears his band perform on their journey, he relays how his wife (Fredi Washington) is a fan of the musician. Calloway encourages him to keep his wife close by, but as the porter is away working, Calloway gets an opportunity to meet his biggest fan. 

Caldonia 
Singing tenderly to a showgirl named Caldonia (Nicky O’Daniel)—and all of Black America by extension—Louis Jordan’s starring vehicle, Caldonia, is a sweet musical short named after Jordan’s hit song of the same name. Caldonia helped solidify crossover appeal for the celebrated bandleader as the featurette played in segregated theaters across America.  

Sepia Cinderella 
In this drama stitched together by musical numbers, Barbara (Sheila Guyse), the film’s protagonist, helps write a song for the object of her affection, Bob (Billy Daniels). When his music becomes a hit, he begins to have larger-than-life dreams of the big time and falls under the spell of a club owner. Sepia Cinderella features the on-screen debut of an uncredited Sidney Poitier as an extra in a nightclub scene.