For Black entertainers both performance art (music, dancing, and the like) and the role of the performer were changed forever by Jazz and the Blues. Sammy Davis Jr., who worked through the transition from “spectacle to respectable” and during his career furthered that shift, is an example of the culmination of that change.  
One particular piece of media that embodies the result of the previously mentioned transition is a performance at a Rat Pack benefit in St. Louis of the song “One for my Baby and One for the Road” by Davis. In this performance Davis talks about how the song has been sung by countless vocalists over the years and then proceeds to impersonate many of those singers throughout his own version.  He touches upon singers of the day, both black and white, such as Nat “King” Cole, Dean Martin, Louie Armstrong, Tony Bennet, and Fred Estair who sang the original version.  He finishes the song with a flourish, belting out the lyrics in his own voice.  It is how he plays these characters, and how he presents his own persona, which truly personifies the change he was so instrumental in bringing about.  
In the early 1900’s blacks were performing as caricatures of themselves on stage.  Black face was still widely used and the characters portrayed the black American in a highly negative and stereotypical light.  Black music was essentially non-existent outside of its own circles and never recorded.  With the explosion of Blues and Jazz and the Harlem nightlife that accompanied them, the black performer was given a chance to redefine his image.  Davis strove to mold one that fostered respect and presented the black man with dignity and class.  One can see his success in his performance with the Rat Pack in St. Louis.  The song is sprinkled with comedy and beauty, and even during the impersonations where he pokes fun, Louie Armstrong and Dean Martin, he does so in a way where respect is given to each other performer.  He does this by pouring himself into the character and giving it up to the other singers a little before he does so.  When he begins his impersonation of Armstrong he takes a moment and gathers himself before unleashing the raspy voice Louie was known for.  Not only is the bit spot on accurate, but the audience can see in the way that he sings that nothing is held back.  With Martin its more of the same.  Drink in hand, Sammy dives into the character and takes a couple shots at Martin (a common occurrence between Pack members).  The comedy in the act does not discriminate, nor does it make a spectacle of Davis himself. It is simply commentary, given with a little bit of love, and the laughs he receives pay homage to each other performer.
Before beginning his bit on Nat “King” Cole, Davis says a little extra about the man.  “Starting out first, not in terms of ridicule or any other reason. 