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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZBELLSON, Louie/Louis(b Louis Paul Balassoni, 26 July 1924, Rock Falls IL; d 14 February 2009, after falling and breaking his hip the previous November) Drummer, bandleader, composer. His father owned a music shop; he won contests as an amateur, then worked for Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey in the 1940s, noted for using two bass drums from 1946. He worked in a small group with Charlie Shavers '50, then the Harry James band. The famous 'James Raid' led to Bellson, Willie Smith and Juan Tizol all leaving James to join Duke Ellington early '51. A first-class musician, Bellson helped popularize the Ellington band at a low ebb in its long history; he wrote and arranged 'The Hawk Talks', at the same session his cymbals providing an elegant shuffle beat on Duke's vehicle for Harry Carney, 'V.I.P.'s Boogie'. Drum features were not in Ellington's line, but Bellson's 'Skin Deep' was an early hi-fi spectacular, a post-Swing Era sensation among those who still thought that drum solos were the whole point. Bellson's skill rendered it palatable, but his subtly menacing contribution to 'The Mooch' on the same album (Ellington Uptown) should have been the hit, helping to make it one of the most compelling of all Duke's re-creations of his own works. Bellson married Pearl Bailey two weeks after they met in London in 1952; they adopted two children. He left Duke '53 and was music director for her, went to Europe with JATP '55, played with a Dorsey Brothers band '55-6, then had his own big band '58-9. He went to Sweden with Count Basie '62, with a Dorsey band to Japan '64, and rejoined Duke '65, James '66; He led a band and wrote the song 'I Need Your Key' on the James Brown album Soul On Top '70. Bellson made many albums as a sideman with various groups on Norman Granz's labels, also several of his own albums '75-8 on Pablo. On Concord Jazz: Louis Bellson's 7 and Prime Time with a septet, Raincheck with a quintet, all including Blue Mitchell; Side Track '79 with a sextet including congas; also 150 MPH, Dynamite! and London Scene with big bands. His compositions included The London Suite (and 'Carnaby Street', used as the theme for Pearl's TV show) on Live In London '70 on DRG; Big Band Explosion (live at Ronnie Scott's) was also on DRG. He toured '87 with a quartet including Don Menza, tenor (b 22 April 1936, Buffalo, NY); pianist Larry Novak (from Chicago) the excellent John Heard (b 3 July 1938, Philadelphia) on bass. East Side Suite '87 included Menza, Clark Terry etc; Louis Bellson And His Jazz Orchestra '87 had big band and combo tracks; Jazz Giants '89 (live) and Peaceful Thunder were all on MusicMaster. Their Time Was The Greatest! '95 back on Concord had twelve tracks dedicated to twelve other drummers, the 19-piece band including Pete and Conte Candoli and Snooky Young on trumpets. Air Bellson '97 on Concord by his Magic 7 included Conte and Heard. |