Jeffries dies at 101

Herbet 'Herb' Jeffries, a jazz balladeer who was cinema's first black singing cowboy, has died, aged 101.

Jeffries, who was born in Detroit in 1913, starred in four ground breaking Western films aimed at black audiences from 1937 to 1939: 'Harlem on the Prairie', 'Two-Gun Man From Harlem', 'The Bronze Buckaroo' and 'Harlem Rides the Range'.

Jazz fans are more likely to know Jeffries as the singer spotted by Louis Armstrong, who worked with the Earl Hines Orchestra before joining Duke Ellington's band and recording the 1941 hit 'Flamingo'.

Jeffries died of cancer in California on Sunday.