Louie Bellson
Encyclopedia
Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni (July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), better known by the stage name
Louie Bellson (his own preferred spelling, although he is often seen in sources as Louis Bellson), was an Italian-American jazz
drummer
. He was a composer
, arranger
, bandleader
, and jazz educator, and is credited with pioneering the use of two bass drums.
Bellson was an internationally acclaimed artist who performed in most of the major capitals around the world. Bellson and his first wife, the actress and singer Pearl Bailey
(married 1952—1990), had the second highest number of appearances at the White House
(only Bob Hope
had more). He was a vice president at Remo
, a drum company. Louie was also very great friends with the cymbal manufacturer, Armand Zildjian
. Some of his influences included Chick Webb, and Papa Jo Jones.
, in 1924 and started playing drums at three years of age. At age 15, he pioneered the double-bass drum set-up. His detailed sketch earned him an 'A' in his high school art class. At age 17, he triumphed over 40,000 drummers to win the Slingerland
National Gene Krupa
contest. Louie graduated from Moline High School, Moline, IL, in 1939.
In 1943, he performed with the Benny Goodman
band and Peggy Lee
in The Powers Girl, the first of his many film appearances. He also appeared in 20th Century Fox
's classic The Gang's All Here (1943) in the orchestra while Carmen Miranda
sang "Paducah". Bellson was 24 and a veteran of a U.S. Army band when he joined Danny Kaye
, Louis Armstrong
, Tommy Dorsey
, Lionel Hampton
, Charlie Barnet
, Benny Carter
, Mel Powell, Kenny Dorharn, Harry Babasin, Al Hendrickson, Buck Washington, and Goodman for the Howard Hawks
film A Song Is Born
(1948).
Between 1943 and 1952, Bellson performed with Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James
, and Duke Ellington
(for whom he wrote "Skin Deep" and "The Hawk Talks"). In 1952 he married Pearl Bailey
, and he left Ellington to be her musical director. They adopted a little boy, Tony, in the mid-1950s. And the couple adopted a little girl, Dee Dee J. Bellson, born April 20, 1960. Son Tony Bellson died in 2004, and DeeDee Bellson at age 49, died July 4, 2009, just 5 months after her father, who died on Valentine's Day 2009.
After Pearl Bailey's death in 1990, he married his second wife, Francine in September 1992. Trained as a physicist and engineer at MIT
, Francine Bellson (née Wright) became his manager. The union lasted until his death in 2009.
Later in the 1950s and 1960s, he performed with Jazz at the Philharmonic
or J.A.T.P., Tommy
and Jimmy Dorsey
, Count Basie
, Duke Ellington again, and Harry James again, as well as appearing on several Ella Fitzgerald
studio albums.
Over the years, Bellson took several bandleader's holidays to play under the direction of other leaders or to lead someone else's band. During the 1960s, he rejoined Ellington for his Emancipation Proclamation Centennial stage production, My People in 1963, the motion picture soundtrack of Assault on a Queen
in 1966, and A Concert of Sacred Music
which is sometimes called The First Sacred Concert in 1965. Ellington called these concerts "the most important thing I have ever done." In 1966, Bellson toured briefly with both Basie and ex-boss Harry James, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s with territory bands like the Unifour Jazz Ensemble. A few years later, renowned drummer Buddy Rich
(referred to by many as "the world's greatest drummer" over the years) paid Bellson a supreme drummer-to-drummer/bandleader compliment by asking him to lead his band on tour while he (Rich) was temporarily disabled by a back injury. Bellson proudly accepted.
He also recorded extensively and led his own bands (occasionally maintaining separate bands on each coast). His sidemen have included Blue Mitchell
, Don Menza
, Larry Novak
, John Heard, Clark Terry
, Pete
and Conte Candoli
, and Snooky Young
. He was equally effective as a big band
drummer and as a small group drummer. In 2006 a new album appeared, The Sacred Music of Louie Bellson and the Jazz Ballet. In May 2009, Francine Bellson fascinated jazz fans when she told The Jazz Joy and Roy syndicated radio show, "I like to call (Sacred) 'how The Master used two maestros,'" adding, "When (Ellington) did his sacred concert back in 1965 with Louie on drums, he told Louie that the sacred concerts were based on 'in-the-beginning,' the first three words of the bible."
Mrs. Bellson, who is affectionately called "The Indomitable Mrs. B" by the many jazz-radio fans, recalled how Ellington explained to Louie that "in the beginning there was lightening and thunder and that's you!" Ellington exclaimed, pointing out that Louie's drums were the thunder.
Both Ellington and Louie, says Mrs. Bellson, were deeply religious.
"Ellington told Louie, 'You ought to do a sacred concert of your own' and so it was," Mrs. B. said, adding, "'The Sacred Music of Louie Bellson' combines symphony, big band and choir, while 'The Jazz Ballet' is based on the vows of Holy Matrimony...."
In May 2007, Bellson recorded a number of his compositions and arrangements for big band, featuring Clark Terry
on Flugelhorn, with Kenny Washington
and Sylvia Cuenca on drums. The big band was manned by the members of Clark Terry's Big Band. The music was recorded in Studio A at Clinton Recording Studios in New York City
. The resultant album, Louie and Clark Expedition 2 was released in January 2008.
Bellson led his own orchestra almost steadily for more than forty years. His last band was called the Big Band Explosion.
On February 14, 2009, Bellson died at age 84 from complications of a broken hip in December 2008 and Parkinson's disease
. He is buried next to his father in Riverside Cemetery
in Moline, Illinois
.
As a prolific creator of music, both written and improvised, his compositions and arrangements (in the hundreds) embrace jazz, jazz/rock/fusion, romantic orchestral suites, symphonic works and a ballet. Bellson was also a poet and a lyricist. His only Broadway
venture, Portofino
(1958), was a resounding flop that closed after three performances.
As an author, he published more than a dozen books on drums and percussion. He was at work with his biographer on a book chronicling his career and bearing the same name as one of his compositions — "Skin Deep".
In addition, "The London Suite" (recorded on his album Louie in London) was performed at the Hollywood Pilgrimage Bowl before a record-breaking audience. The three-part work includes a choral section in which a 12-voice choir sings lyrics penned by Bellson. Part One is the band's rousing "Carnaby Street", a collaboration with Jack Hayes.
In 1987, at the Percussive Arts Society
convention in Washington, D.C.
, Bellson and Harold Farberman
performed a major orchestral work titled "Concerto for Jazz Drummer and Full Orchestra", the first piece ever written specifically for jazz drummer and full symphony orchestra. This work was recorded by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
in England, and was released by the Swedish label BIS
.
Bellson maintained a tight schedule of clinics and performances of both big bands and small bands in colleges, clubs and concert halls. In between, he continued to record and compose, resulting in more than 100 albums and more than 300 compositions. Bellson's Telarc debut recording, Louie Bellson And His Big Band: Live From New York, was released in June 1994. He also created new drum technology for Remo, Inc.
, of which he was vice-president.
Bellson received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
in 1985 at Northern Illinois University
. As of 2005, among other performing activities, Bellson had visited his home town of Rock Falls, Illinois every July for Louie Bellson Heritage Days, a weekend in his honor close to his July 6 birthday, with receptions, music clinics and other performances by Bellson. At the 2004 event celebrating his 80th birthday, Bellson said, "I'm not that old; I'm 40 in this leg, and 40 in the other leg." He also celebrated his birthday every year at the River Music Experience
in Davenport, Iowa
.
magazine and the Percussive Arts Society
. Yale University named him a Duke Ellington Fellow in 1977. He received an honorary Doctorate from Northern Illinois University in 1985. He performed his original concert — Tomus I, II, III — with the Washington Civic Symphony in historic Constitution Hall in 1993. A combination of full symphony orchestra, big-band ensemble and 80-voice choir, "Tomus" had been a collaboration of music by Bellson and lyrics by his late wife, Pearl Bailey. Bellson was a six-time Grammy Award
nominee.
In January 1994, Bellson received the prestigious American Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts
, a U.S. federal agency. As one of three recipients, Bellson was lauded by NEA chair Jane Alexander who said, "These colossal talents have helped write the history of jazz in America."
With Stephane Grappelli
With Sarah Vaughan
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Louie Bellson (his own preferred spelling, although he is often seen in sources as Louis Bellson), was an Italian-American jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
. He was a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
, bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, and jazz educator, and is credited with pioneering the use of two bass drums.
Bellson was an internationally acclaimed artist who performed in most of the major capitals around the world. Bellson and his first wife, the actress and singer Pearl Bailey
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...
(married 1952—1990), had the second highest number of appearances at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
(only Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
had more). He was a vice president at Remo
Remo
Remo is a male given name of Latin origin - see Romulus and Remus.Remo may also refer to:* Remo, an American drum skin company* Remo , another name for the German wine grape Riesling* Remo language, a Panoan language of Brazil and Peru...
, a drum company. Louie was also very great friends with the cymbal manufacturer, Armand Zildjian
Armand Zildjian
Armand Zildjian was an American manufacturer of cymbals and the head of the Avedis Zildjian Company.Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, Armand Zildjian was the scion of a cymbals-making tradition that dated back to his ancestor Avedis, who began the company in 1623 in Istanbul...
. Some of his influences included Chick Webb, and Papa Jo Jones.
Biography
Louie Bellson was born in Rock Falls, IllinoisRock Falls, Illinois
Rock Falls is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,266 at the 2010 census, down from 9,580. The city is located on the Rock River.- Geography :Rock Falls is located at ....
, in 1924 and started playing drums at three years of age. At age 15, he pioneered the double-bass drum set-up. His detailed sketch earned him an 'A' in his high school art class. At age 17, he triumphed over 40,000 drummers to win the Slingerland
Slingerland Drum Company
-History:The Slingerland Drum Company is a historic drum company that is linked to the rich history of jazz drumming. The company was founded by Henry Heanon "H.H." Slingerland in 1912. Slingerland had won a correspondence school of music in a card game aboard one of the gaming boats that once...
National Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
contest. Louie graduated from Moline High School, Moline, IL, in 1939.
In 1943, he performed with the Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
band and Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
in The Powers Girl, the first of his many film appearances. He also appeared in 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
's classic The Gang's All Here (1943) in the orchestra while Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
sang "Paducah". Bellson was 24 and a veteran of a U.S. Army band when he joined Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
, Charlie Barnet
Charlie Barnet
Charles Daly Barnet was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.His major recordings were "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffle".-Early life:...
, Benny Carter
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
, Mel Powell, Kenny Dorharn, Harry Babasin, Al Hendrickson, Buck Washington, and Goodman for the Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...
film A Song Is Born
A Song Is Born
A Song Is Born was a 1948 Technicolor musical film remake, starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo, of 1941 movie Ball of Fire with Gary Cooper...
(1948).
Between 1943 and 1952, Bellson performed with Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James
Harry James
Henry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
, and Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
(for whom he wrote "Skin Deep" and "The Hawk Talks"). In 1952 he married Pearl Bailey
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...
, and he left Ellington to be her musical director. They adopted a little boy, Tony, in the mid-1950s. And the couple adopted a little girl, Dee Dee J. Bellson, born April 20, 1960. Son Tony Bellson died in 2004, and DeeDee Bellson at age 49, died July 4, 2009, just 5 months after her father, who died on Valentine's Day 2009.
After Pearl Bailey's death in 1990, he married his second wife, Francine in September 1992. Trained as a physicist and engineer at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, Francine Bellson (née Wright) became his manager. The union lasted until his death in 2009.
Later in the 1950s and 1960s, he performed with Jazz at the Philharmonic
Jazz at the Philharmonic
Jazz at the Philharmonic, or JATP, was the title of a series of jazz concerts, tours and recordings produced by Norman Granz....
or J.A.T.P., Tommy
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
and Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
, Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Duke Ellington again, and Harry James again, as well as appearing on several Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
studio albums.
Over the years, Bellson took several bandleader's holidays to play under the direction of other leaders or to lead someone else's band. During the 1960s, he rejoined Ellington for his Emancipation Proclamation Centennial stage production, My People in 1963, the motion picture soundtrack of Assault on a Queen
Assault on a Queen
Assault on a Queen is a 1966 American action-adventure film, directed by Jack Donohue, starring Frank Sinatra and Italian beauty Virna Lisi. Based on a 1959 novel by Jack Finney, it was adapted for the screen by Rod Serling and released by Paramount Pictures on June 15, 1966.-Plot summary:A World...
in 1966, and A Concert of Sacred Music
Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts
In the last decade of his life, Duke Ellington wrote three Sacred Concerts:* 1965 - A Concert of Sacred Music* 1968 - Second Sacred Concert* 1973 - Third Sacred Concert...
which is sometimes called The First Sacred Concert in 1965. Ellington called these concerts "the most important thing I have ever done." In 1966, Bellson toured briefly with both Basie and ex-boss Harry James, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s with territory bands like the Unifour Jazz Ensemble. A few years later, renowned drummer Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
(referred to by many as "the world's greatest drummer" over the years) paid Bellson a supreme drummer-to-drummer/bandleader compliment by asking him to lead his band on tour while he (Rich) was temporarily disabled by a back injury. Bellson proudly accepted.
He also recorded extensively and led his own bands (occasionally maintaining separate bands on each coast). His sidemen have included Blue Mitchell
Blue Mitchell
Richard Allen Mitchell was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman for Riverside, Blue Note and then Mainstream Records.-Biography:...
, Don Menza
Don Menza
Don Menza is an American saxophonist, arranger, composer, session musician, and jazz educator noted for his many contributions to American jazz and big band music. -Early years:...
, Larry Novak
Larry Novak
Lawrence R. "Larry" Novak is an American jazz pianist. He is the father of Gary Novak.Larry Novak was born in Chicago. He learned piano from age five and began playing jazz at 14. He studied at Loyola University Chicago and the University of Minnesota, followed by a stint playing in a military...
, John Heard, Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
, Pete
Pete Candoli
Pete Candoli was an American swing and West Coast jazz trumpeter. He played with the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and many others, and worked extensively in the studios of the recording and television industries...
and Conte Candoli
Conte Candoli
Secondo "Conte" Candoli was an American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie, and in Doc Severinsen's NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show. He played with Gerry Mulligan, and on Frank Sinatra's TV specials...
, and Snooky Young
Snooky Young
Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds.-Biography:...
. He was equally effective as a big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
drummer and as a small group drummer. In 2006 a new album appeared, The Sacred Music of Louie Bellson and the Jazz Ballet. In May 2009, Francine Bellson fascinated jazz fans when she told The Jazz Joy and Roy syndicated radio show, "I like to call (Sacred) 'how The Master used two maestros,'" adding, "When (Ellington) did his sacred concert back in 1965 with Louie on drums, he told Louie that the sacred concerts were based on 'in-the-beginning,' the first three words of the bible."
Mrs. Bellson, who is affectionately called "The Indomitable Mrs. B" by the many jazz-radio fans, recalled how Ellington explained to Louie that "in the beginning there was lightening and thunder and that's you!" Ellington exclaimed, pointing out that Louie's drums were the thunder.
Both Ellington and Louie, says Mrs. Bellson, were deeply religious.
"Ellington told Louie, 'You ought to do a sacred concert of your own' and so it was," Mrs. B. said, adding, "'The Sacred Music of Louie Bellson' combines symphony, big band and choir, while 'The Jazz Ballet' is based on the vows of Holy Matrimony...."
In May 2007, Bellson recorded a number of his compositions and arrangements for big band, featuring Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
on Flugelhorn, with Kenny Washington
Kenny Washington (musician)
Kenny Washington is a jazz drummer born in Staten Island, New York.He studied at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts...
and Sylvia Cuenca on drums. The big band was manned by the members of Clark Terry's Big Band. The music was recorded in Studio A at Clinton Recording Studios in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The resultant album, Louie and Clark Expedition 2 was released in January 2008.
Bellson led his own orchestra almost steadily for more than forty years. His last band was called the Big Band Explosion.
On February 14, 2009, Bellson died at age 84 from complications of a broken hip in December 2008 and Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
. He is buried next to his father in Riverside Cemetery
Riverside Cemetery (Moline, Illinois)
Riverside Cemetery is located in Moline, Illinois, United States. It can trace its beginnings to Moline Cemetery, which was established to 1851. The original of the cemetery was purchased from Samuel and Mary Bell on November 1 of that year. It is located between Fourth and Fifth Avenues at...
in Moline, Illinois
Moline, Illinois
Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...
.
Compositions and arrangements
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
venture, Portofino
Portofino (musical)
Portofino is a musical with a book by Richard Ney, lyrics by Ney and Sheldon Harnick, and music by Louis Bellson and Will Irwin.Set in a piazza in the Italian resort town of Portofino, the convoluted plot involves auto-racing duke Nicky; his Texan rival Kitty; his granddaughter Angela, a practicing...
(1958), was a resounding flop that closed after three performances.
As an author, he published more than a dozen books on drums and percussion. He was at work with his biographer on a book chronicling his career and bearing the same name as one of his compositions — "Skin Deep".
In addition, "The London Suite" (recorded on his album Louie in London) was performed at the Hollywood Pilgrimage Bowl before a record-breaking audience. The three-part work includes a choral section in which a 12-voice choir sings lyrics penned by Bellson. Part One is the band's rousing "Carnaby Street", a collaboration with Jack Hayes.
In 1987, at the Percussive Arts Society
Percussive Arts Society
The Percussive Arts Society is an international music service organization promoting percussion education, research,performance and appreciation.Established in 1961 as a non-profit, music service organization,...
convention in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Bellson and Harold Farberman
Harold Farberman
Harold Farberman is an American conductor, composer, and percussionist.-Biography:Farberman studied percussion at Juilliard and composition at the New England Conservatory and at Tanglewood with Aaron Copland...
performed a major orchestral work titled "Concerto for Jazz Drummer and Full Orchestra", the first piece ever written specifically for jazz drummer and full symphony orchestra. This work was recorded by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979....
in England, and was released by the Swedish label BIS
BIS Records
BIS Records is a record label founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr. It is located in Åkersberga, Sweden.BIS focuses on classical music, both contemporary and early, especially works that are not already well represented by existing recordings....
.
Drum tutoring
Bellson was known throughout his career to conduct drum and band clinics at high schools, colleges and music stores.Bellson maintained a tight schedule of clinics and performances of both big bands and small bands in colleges, clubs and concert halls. In between, he continued to record and compose, resulting in more than 100 albums and more than 300 compositions. Bellson's Telarc debut recording, Louie Bellson And His Big Band: Live From New York, was released in June 1994. He also created new drum technology for Remo, Inc.
Remo
Remo is a male given name of Latin origin - see Romulus and Remus.Remo may also refer to:* Remo, an American drum skin company* Remo , another name for the German wine grape Riesling* Remo language, a Panoan language of Brazil and Peru...
, of which he was vice-president.
Bellson received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Humane Letters
The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters is always conferred as an honorary degree, usually to those who have distinguished themselves in areas other than science, government, literature or religion, which are awarded degrees of Doctor of Science, Doctor of Laws, Doctor of Letters, or Doctor of...
in 1985 at Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
. As of 2005, among other performing activities, Bellson had visited his home town of Rock Falls, Illinois every July for Louie Bellson Heritage Days, a weekend in his honor close to his July 6 birthday, with receptions, music clinics and other performances by Bellson. At the 2004 event celebrating his 80th birthday, Bellson said, "I'm not that old; I'm 40 in this leg, and 40 in the other leg." He also celebrated his birthday every year at the River Music Experience
River Music Experience
The River Music Experience is a multi-use music facility and 5013 non-profit organization located on the first two floors of the historic Redstone Building in downtown Davenport, Iowa....
in Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
.
Awards
Among Bellson's numerous accolades, he had been voted into the Halls of Fame for both Modern DrummerModern Drummer
Modern Drummer is a monthly publication targeting the interests of on drummers and percussionists. The magazine features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public...
magazine and the Percussive Arts Society
Percussive Arts Society
The Percussive Arts Society is an international music service organization promoting percussion education, research,performance and appreciation.Established in 1961 as a non-profit, music service organization,...
. Yale University named him a Duke Ellington Fellow in 1977. He received an honorary Doctorate from Northern Illinois University in 1985. He performed his original concert — Tomus I, II, III — with the Washington Civic Symphony in historic Constitution Hall in 1993. A combination of full symphony orchestra, big-band ensemble and 80-voice choir, "Tomus" had been a collaboration of music by Bellson and lyrics by his late wife, Pearl Bailey. Bellson was a six-time Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominee.
In January 1994, Bellson received the prestigious American Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, a U.S. federal agency. As one of three recipients, Bellson was lauded by NEA chair Jane Alexander who said, "These colossal talents have helped write the history of jazz in America."
Discography
- 1959 - Live At Flamingo Hotel 1959 (Jazz Hour)
- 1962 - "Big Band Jazz from the Summit" (Roulette Birdland)
- 1968 - Breakthrough! (Project 3)
- 1974 - 150 MPH (Concord)
- 1978 - Raincheck (Concord)
- 1979 - Dynamite! (Concord)
- 1979 - Side Track (Concord)
- 1980 - London Scene (Concord)
- 1984 - Louis Bellson & Explosion (pausa)
- 1993 - Live From New York (Telarc)
- 1996 - Air Bellson (Concord)
Compilations
- 2001 Classic Drum Solos and Drum Battles DVD (Hal Leonard)
- 2002 Pete York's Super Drumming, Vol. 1 (Inakustic Gmbh)
- 2008 Pete York's Super Drumming, Vol. 3 (Inakustic Gmbh)
As sideman
With James BrownJames Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
- Soul on TopSoul on TopSoul on Top is an album by James Brown. Brown and saxophonist Maceo Parker worked with arranger/conductor Oliver Nelson to record a big band, funk and jazz vocal album...
(1969)
With Stephane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands....
- Classic Sessions: Stephane Grappelli (1987)
With Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
- How Long Has This Been Going On?How Long Has This Been Going On?"How Long Has This Been Going On?" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin for the musical "Funny Face" in 1928.Replaced by "He Loves and She Loves" in Funny Face, it was eventually introduced in the musical Rosalie by Bobbe Arnst.-Notable recordings:*Audrey Hepburn in...
(1978)
As leader
- 2003 Louis Bellson and His Big Band (VIEW)
- 2007 Cobham Meets Bellson (VIEW)
External links
- Louie Bellson - official website.
- Heckman, Don. "Louie Bellson dies at 84; Duke Ellington called him 'the world's greatest drummer'," Los Angeles Times, Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
- Chinen, Nate. "Louie Bellson, Dynamic Jazz Drummer, Dies at 84," The New York Times, Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
- Drummerworld
- YouTube video of Louis Bellson
- [ Allmusic biography of Louis Bellson]
- "Louie Bellson" The Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians (Jazz.com).
- Obituary in the Los Angeles Daily NewsLos Angeles Daily NewsThe Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a branch of Colorado-based MediaNews Group....
- Jazz Connection Magazine online biography
- Biography and memorable quotes about him at Remo.com
- Louie Bellson - In Memoriam