Jazz Connection Magazine

Drumming great Louis Bellson, above, brings excitement and taste every time he plays the traps as

fans attested to during this performance by Bellson and his Big Band Explosion at Warner Park

in Canoga Park, CA, on June 23, 1985. Bellson's appearance was part of the city's free Summer

Concerts in the Park series. - Photo by Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

Louis Bellson, was referred to by the late jazz critic Leonard Feather as "one of the most phenomenal drummers in history." And Bellson has lived up to that high praise throughout his illustrious 65-year career in music.

The four-time Grammy Award nominee has been considered by many to be one of the three top jazz/swing drummers - along with Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich - to come out of the Big Band Era. All three giants of the traps consistently exhibited charismatic appeal to both peers and public alike. All three have raised the bar by giving distinction and respectability to the drums as a legitimate musical instrument. All three have generated high-powered excitement with their often times spectacular and torrid drum solos.

"For me to be in that class it's wonderful," said a humbled Bellson, 80, via telephone from his home in San Jose, CA. "But I have to give just dues to two guys who really got me off on the drums - Big Sid Catlett and Jo Jones. They were my influences. All three of us realized what Jo Jones did and it influenced a lot of us. We all three looked to Jo as the 'Papa' who really did it. Gene helped bring the drums to the foreground as a solo instrument. Buddy was a great natural player. But we also have to look back at Chick Webb's contributions, too."

While two members of this elite triumvirate were noted as percussive stylistic innovators, Bellson took his own innovation a step further by developing the double-bass drum set up, which is used by many drummers today, and by his creative and stimulating compositions and arrangements, many of which have become jazz classics.

As Feather once again enthused, "Musicians and public alike respect him as a drummer without peer in technique, taste and originality; and as a composer whose works are a consistently effective fusion of melodic, rhythmic and harmonic ideas."

As a musician, Bellson is a "total drummer," meaning he knows how to play dynamic and tasteful solos but he also knows how to drive and support a band during a performance.

"Having been brought up during the Swing Era, I've always felt that a great drummer needed to learn how to play solos, but the most important thing is knowing how to back up soloists and play for the band," Bellson said. "The best comment I would get from the guys in the band would be, 'You really swung the band tonight, Louie,' rather than, 'That was a great solo.' Solos are fine but a drummer may play one or two solos a night. What about the rest of the evening? It's how you play the ballads, it's how you play the bossa novas, it's how you fit in with the rest of the rhythm section, it's how you support the band - that's what makes a great drummer."

As one of the greatest drummers of our time, Bellson will be honored by the Big Band Academy Of America at its annual reunion on Sunday, March 6, 2005, at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, CA. He will receive the fine arts organization's esteemed Golden Bandstand Award. Other honorees include trumpeters Eugene "Snooky" Young, a veteran of the Jimmie Lunceford orchestra and a mainstay in the Los Angeles jazz and studio arenas, and trumpeter Clora Bryant, a jazz pioneer for women and one of the last living musicians of the Be-Bop jazz era.

Louis Bellson was born Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni on July 26, 1924, in Rock

Falls, IL, near Chicago. His parents were Italian immigrants. His father hailed from Naples, his mother came from Milan.

"People were either misspelling or mispronouncing my father's last name, so he changed it to Bellson," Bellson said. "In those days, many immigrants shortened their names to Americanize it."

Bellson's father played numerous instruments and he eventually opened his own music store in Moline, IL, across the Mississippi River from Davenport, IA.

The young Bellson's love affair with the drums began at age 3 when his father took him to see a parade and he heard the wonderful sounds of the drums thundering down the street.

"I told my dad that I wanted to play that (the drums)," Bellson said. "My dad said I was so definite about it that he started me on the drums. That was the beginning."

Because his father was gifted musically, Bellson, along with his three other brothers and four sisters, received very thorough training in music, he said.

"By the time I was 12, I was teaching drums at my father's music store," Bellson said. "He taught my brothers and sisters and me all the instruments. I also had brass, woodwind and string students. We even played a lot of tarantellas at home!" (laughing)

By age 13, Bellson also studied conducting from his father and was well-versed with most of the arias from the major operas, he said.

"I'm called a jazz drummer and I chuckle a little bit because most people don't realize that I had all that 'legit' training," Bellson mused. "I was into all the classics."

Wanting to learn more about playing the drums, the then-15-year-old Bellson started studying privately with Roy Knapp in Chicago. Knapp previously had given lessons to Gene Krupa, who by this time had become the icon of the traps after having reached stardom with Benny Goodman's band and who was now a bandleader in his own right.

"Roy was not only a great all-around percussion teacher, but also a great musician," Bellson said.

The young teen also showed a great aptitude for art. As a result for his fondness for drawing, Bellson is credited with pioneering the double-bass-drum set-up, which would be his trademark. His detailed sketch of his new "invention" earned him an 'A' in his high school art class.

"My art teacher saw me draw two round circles and he asked me what I was drawing," Bellson said. "I told him I was developing a new drum set: a two-bass drum set up. He thought it was an interesting concept and passed me on that drawing. It was my art project for the year."

The purpose of the double-bass drum is to give the drummer added support, Bellson said.

"I've been of the opinion that all a drummer really needs is one bass drum, a snare drum, some tom-toms, a ride cymbal, a crash cymbal, sticks and brushes," Bellson said. "If you can't do it with that, you better go back to the drawing board. The extra bass drum is frosting on the cake. It doesn't mean that every drummer needs to play two bass drums. For me, it works."

Eventually Gretsch Drum Company picked up on the young drummer's vision and made the first double-bass drum kit, Bellson said.

Seventeen-year-old Louis Bellson, right, performs for drumming icon Gene Krupa,

left, during the Gene Krupa-Slingerland Drum Company Contest at the Paramount

Theatre in New York in 1941. Bellson won, triumphing over 40,000 drummers.

Bellson was a musically hungry student and he grew quickly at his craft. At 17, two important events occurred in Bellson's young life: he gained national attention by winning the Gene Krupa-Slingerland Drum Contest, triumphing over 40,000 drummers who entered the contest, and he got his first professional job with a name band.

"A representative from Slingerland Drum Company came to my dad's music store and encouraged my dad to have me enter the contest," Bellson said. "I didn't care much for contests in those days. My dad persuaded to enter."

However, once entering the contest, Bellson played to win, thus prevailing at each level of competition through the local, regional, semi-finals and eventually, the finals.

"I felt that some of the stiffest competition was from around the Chicago area," Bellson said. "There were about 750 drummers from the Midwest that were really hot."

As one of the five finalists, Bellson was sent to New York to play for Krupa at the Paramount Theatre. Krupa judged the finalists himself.

"When I won, it was a feather in my cap," Bellson said. "The contest was covered in Down Beat and Metronome magazines. I realized at that moment the value of the contest itself even if I didn't win. The value that was important to me was just being there and learning something and being with other drummers and learning from them and being with Gene."

"Gene was a wonderful man," he said. "He said to me, 'Kid, you have lots of talent. Keep on going. Lots of love.'"

From that moment on, a life-long friendship developed between the two drummers until Krupa's death in October 1973.

"Gene was so humble," Bellson recalled. "Buddy Rich and I went to see him a few times. He said to Buddy and me, 'I can't play well like you guys can. I just struggle along.' We said, 'Yeah, like you struggle along.'"

In addition to perfecting his own drumming style, Bellson spent time listening to other drummers. As a teen, he went to hear all the major bands that came to Moline or Davenport, he said.

One of the bands that came through the area was led by pianist Ted Fio Rito. Fio Rito led a sweet band and was also a prolific songwriter with such hits to his credit as Laugh Clown, Laugh, I Never Knew, and Toot Toot Tootsie, Goodbye. In the early 1930s, Benny Goodman was a sideman in Fio Rito's orchestra and Betty Grable, who became the G.I.'s favorite Pin Up Girl during World War II, was his girl singer.

Word got back to Fio Rito about the talented 17-year-old drummer from Moline and the veteran bandleader offered Bellson a job with his band right on the spot.

"This was in March or April of my senior year in high school and I told Ted I wanted to graduate high school first," Bellson recalled. "Ted told me to call him after I graduated. I did. He kept his word. He sent for me to come to Hollywood to play with the band at the Florentine Gardens. The Number One act on that bill was The Mills Brothers. They taught me so many things. They were great."

While performing with Fio Rito at the Florentine Gardens in September 1942, bassist Harry Goodman, Benny's brother, happened to come in to catch the show. Goodman was impressed with Bellson's playing and asked the young drummer if he would like to audition for the "King of Swing's" band.

Goodman and his orchestra were in Hollywood at the time filming The Powers Girl, starring George Murphy, Anne Shirley, Carol Landis, Dennis Day and Alan Mowbray. Goodman was trying out drummers to replace his current drummer, Hud Davies, who would leave the band at the conclusion of filming.

"When Harry asked me if I would like to audition for Benny's band, I just started stuttering!" Bellson said with a laugh. "I was just floored."

The next day, Harry Goodman brought Bellson to Paramount Studios to play a few numbers for his brother. The audition turned out to be more like a screen test for a part in a motion picture.

"I was dressed in a tuxedo and make up was put on my face and they started filming me while I played," Bellson said. "That was my audition!"

Bellson made an impression because Goodman told him that he was hired. Feeling both elated and stunned at the same, Bellson found himself in a quandary, he said.

"Before I had a chance to tell Benny that I was tied up with Ted Fio Rito, Benny said that the band would leave for New York in a few days," Bellson said. "I went back and told the guy's in Ted's band what happened and asked them what I should do. They said to me that I should go because it's not everyday one gets a chance to join Benny Goodman's band and that they would explain things to Ted."

Fio Rito initially got mad at his young drummer for "jumping ship," but his anger was short lived.

Bellson's would do two major stints with Goodman. His first stint lasted eight months and was filled with a number of highlights. The drummer's first gig with the "King of Swing" was on October 9 when the band opened at the Hotel New Yorker. Band personnel at the time included trumpeters Jimmy Maxwell, Lawrence Stearns, and Tony Faso; trombonists Lou McGarity and Charlie Castaldo; alto saxophonists Hymie Schertzer and Clint Neagley; tenor saxophonists Jon Walton and Al Klink; baritone saxophonist Bob Poland; pianist Jimmy Rowles; guitarist Dave Barbour; bassist Cliff Hill; and the band's vocalist, Peggy Lee.

During the Goodman band's three-month stay at the Hotel New Yorker, Hollywood beckoned the clarinet genius to appear in his fourth motion picture, Stage Door Canteen, starring Lon McAllister, William Terry, and Cheryl Walker, with cameo appearances by many of Hollywood's most popular stars. The film also included the orchestras of Count Basie, Kay Kyser, Guy Lombardo, Freddy Martin, and Xavier Cugat.

Because of wartime travel restrictions and Goodman's commitment to the New Yorker, his portion of the Stage Door Canteen was accomplished in New York. With more wartime personnel changes, Conrad Gozzo, Carl Poole and Lee Castaldo (Castle) are the new replacements in the trumpet section, and pianist Jess Stacy rejoined the band. In the film, Bellson can be seen periodically over Goodman's right shoulder as the band plays Bugle Call Rag and Why Don't You Do Right?, a vocal by Peggy Lee. The latter tune was originally recorded five days prior to the recording ban and by the time the movie was being filmed, it was a hit for Goodman. Stage Door Canteen was released in July 1943.

Another memorable gig for Bellson while with his new boss began on Dec. 30, 1942. The Goodman band was part of a stage show at New York's Paramount Theatre backing up crooner Frank Sinatra. Sinatra had left Tommy Dorsey to go it alone (Goodman's Dick Haymes had taken Sinatra's spot with Dorsey), and this was his first major booking.

On Feb. 23, 1943, Goodman and his orchestra opened at the Hollywood Palladium and the following month performed in the 20th Century-Fox film, The Gang's All Here, starring Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, Edward Everett Horton, Charlotte Greenwood, and Phil Baker.

In the film, the band was featured on a couple of obscure tunes: Minnie's In The Money (with vocal by Goodman) and Paducah (vocal by Goodman and Miranda). In fact, Bellson shares Miranda's spotlight along with Goodman in the Paducah scene toward the end of the movie.

Nineteen-year-old drummer Louis Bellson, center, joins his boss, Benny Goodman, left, in

sharing the spotlight with Carmen Miranda, the "Brazilian Bombshell," in the production

number, "Paducah," from the 1943 film, The Gang's All Here.

After The Gang's All Here was completed, Goodman remained in California as his wife, Alice, gave birth to their first daughter, Rachel, on May 2 in Los Angeles. Bellson, in turn, found his next gig to be with Uncle Sam as he was drafted into the Army.

"I was supposed to go with Ziggy Elman's band at March Air Field in Riverside, CA, but instead the Army took me the other way to Washington, D.C., to play in concert and dance bands," Bellson said.

In 1946, Bellson was discharged from the Army, and in May of that year, he rejoined Goodman. Band personnel at the time included trumpeters Bernie Privin, Johnny Best, Nate Kazebier (an alumnus of Goodman's 1935 outfit) and Jimmy Blake; trombonists Lou McGarity and Cutty Cutshall; French hornist Addison Collins; alto saxophonists Bill Shine and John Prager; tenor saxophonists Gish Gilbertson and Cliff Strickland; baritone saxophonist Danny Bank; pianist Mel Powell (a standout from Goodman's 1941-42 band and Glenn Miller's AAF Band); guitarist Mike Bryan; bassist Barney Spieler; vibraphonist/vocalist Johnny White; and Art Lund, who also rejoined Goodman as the band's vocalist. A few months later Hymie Shertzer returned once again as lead alto saxophonist, and Joe Bushkin as the band's pianist.

On May 14, Bellson waxed his first four sides (in actuality, his first commercial cuts) with Goodman on the swinging Powell arrangement of Oh, Baby! (vocal by Goodman), Blue Skies (vocal by Art Lund), and I Ain't Mad At Nobody (vocal by White). The swinging Oh, Baby! was recorded in two parts on 12-inch platters. The first side of the tune begins with a small group. The flip side, which is slightly faster, features the rest of the band with solos by Gilbertson, Best and McGarity. Bellson gets part of the action with some characteristically clean and accurate drumming.

Bellson stayed with Goodman through the end of 1946, doing The Benny Goodman Radio Show, The Victor Borge Show Starring Benny Goodman, as well as other radio remote broadcasts with the band, and recording commercial 20 sides. Some of those commercial cuts include Fly-By-Night (July 18), A Kiss In The Night (vocal by Art Lund), For You, For Me, For Evermore (vocal by Eve Young) and Put That Kiss Back Where You Found It (vocal by Goodman - all three on Aug. 7), Hora Staccato (Oct. 15), Man Here Plays Fine Piano (vocal by Eve Young, featuring Joe Bushkin on piano - Oct. 22), and a pair of sextet tracks: I'll Always Be In Love With You and Honeysuckle Rose (Oct. 22 with Johnny White, vibes; Joe Bushkin, piano; Barney Kessel, guitar; and Harry Babasin, bass).

"Benny was a genius," Bellson said of his time spent with Goodman. "I learned so much from Benny as to how to rehearse a band. I got to know Benny very well. If you get to know a person and get into knowing what they're all about, then you know how valuable they are."

But the good will between Bellson and Goodman wasn't always there. In fact, three months into his first go-around with Goodman, Bellson was fired. Bellson explains:

"I had heard many stories about the Benny Goodman 'Ray.' When I first joined the band, Hymie Shertzer was playing lead alto and he was like a second father to me on the road. He said, 'Look, Kid, you probably heard of Benny's Ray. Don't let it bother you. Do what Lionel Hampton used to do - just dig into your instrument and play. Don't even look at him.'

"Everything went well for about the first three months. We were playing at the Hotel New Yorker and we were playing a terrific show. We were doing Sing, Sing, Sing and suddenly the focus was on me. Soon after, Benny gave me my notice. Hymie went to Benny and said, 'Benny, are you crazy? This kid is breaking it up.' Hymie told me he detected a tone of jealousy in Benny because I was getting more applause on Sing, Sing, Sing then he got. Whatever it was, I never found out.

"I went back to Chicago and hung out with Louis Jordan for the night. By the time I got home, my dad was at the train station to meet me. I was surprised to see him because I didn't notify him that I was coming home. He told me Benny kept him up all night on the telephone. He told my dad to tell me to get my butt on that train back to New York. I returned to New York on the next train and rejoined the band. Benny never bothered me again."

Bellson reunited with Goodman in 1948 for the Howard Hawks' film, A Song Is Born, starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo. Also in the film were Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet and Tommy Dorsey.

"Tommy was a genius, too," Bellson said. "My time with Tommy's band was a marvelous experience."

In "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing's" band at the time were trumpeters Charlie Shavers and Doc Severinson, tenor saxophonist Boomy Richmond, and pianist Paul Smith, who would later go on to be Ella Fitzgerald's accompanist.

"Charlie (Shavers) and I roomed together for three years," Bellson said. "Charlie was a marvelous trumpet player and a great musician. In fact, Tommy had a lot of fine musicians in his band."

Bellson may have propelled the Dorsey band into a swinging unit, but what the charismatic drummer really wanted to do was to write music. He wanted to study with the best, and he found the best in Norman "Buddy" Baker, who wrote numerous scores for Walt Disney and helped to create one of the finest film scoring schools in the United States: The Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California (USC). Baker died in 2002.

"I wanted to really get into music so I had heard about Buddy Baker," Bellson said. "I listened to the string writings he did with Herb Jeffries and I knew I had to meet him and study with him."

Bellson left Dorsey to briefly co-led a sextet in 1950 with Shavers that featured clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and vibraphonist Terry Gibbs.

Bellson then join trumpeter Harry James, whose band wasn't working steady at the time.

"Harry was working one or two days a week, which gave me a chance to study with Buddy," Bellson said.

The move to James' band proved to be good for Bellson as he immersed himself in his musical studies.

Bellson stayed with James for a year before Duke Ellington wooed him, and fellow band members Juan Tizol (valve trombone) and Willie Smith (alto saxophone), over to his side.

"Duke had a lot of things in store for us and we went to Harry and told him about it," Bellson said. "Harry looked at the three of us and said, 'Take me with you!'"

Bellson's two-year association with Ellington was artistically productive. He was able to put into practice many of the things he studied while with Baker as well as the things he picked up from Ellington himself and composer/arranger Billy Strayhorn.

"The techniques of learning music from Duke and Billy really impressed me," Bellson said.

Ellington was also impressed with his drummer's ear for composition and arranging. He was the first bandleader who asked Bellson to bring arrangements to him, Bellson said.

Through Tizol's prodding, however, Bellson reluctantly showed his boss and mentor two pieces that he composed - one back in 1946 called Skin Deep, and a more recent effort, The Hawk Talks.

"I wrote The Hawk Talks for Harry James," Bellson said. "Harry was known by musicians as 'The Hawk,' as was (tenor saxophone giant) Coleman Hawkins. To my utter surprise and joy, Duke said he wanted to record the songs. That catapulted me into the arranging class. To have Duke rehearse just one of my songs would have been good enough. Here he wanted to record them."

Some critics felt that Bellson re-vitalized Ellington's orchestra with his great, swinging arrangements. In fact, Bellson's material such as Skin Deep, The Hawk Talks and Ting-A-Ling, has stood the test of time as Ellington features.

"Duke's band was unbelievable," Bellson said. "He and Billy were true geniuses in every sense of the word. Being with Duke was a marvelous experience. That was probably one of the highlights of my life. Duke spent as much time with the newspaper boy on the corner as he would with the President. He always had a kind word for everybody. He was just a marvelous man."

In 1952, Bellson left Ellington to marry singer/actress Pearl Bailey, with whom he worked as her musical director over the next few years, leading his own band which included Taft Jordan on trumpet, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis on tenor sax; and George Duvivier on bass.

"Pearl and I met when she did a few shows with Duke which were fantastic," Bellson said.

Pearl Mae Bailey, the youngest of four children born to a preacher and who was Bellson's senior by eight years, was featured both as a singer and dancer with jazz bands led by Noble Sissle, Cootie Williams and Edgar Hayes. She began performing as a solo act in 1944, and wooed nightclub audiences with her relaxed stage presence and humorous asides. After briefly replacing Sister Rosetta Tharpe in Cab Calloway's Orchestra during the mid-1940s, she debuted on Broadway during 1946 in the musical, St. Louis Woman. Bailey earned an award for Most Promising Newcomer, and made her first film, Variety Girl, in 1947.

Though it wasn't a hit, her version of Tired (from Variety Girl) increased her standing in the jazz community. She recorded for several different labels, including Columbia, during the1940s and finally found a hit in 1952 after signing to Coral. Her version of Takes Two To Tango, backed by Don Redman's Orchestra, hit the Top Ten. In that same year she married Bellson, her fifth husband.

"After I became Pearl's musical director, Don Redman helped front the band," Bellson said. "He was a fantastic musician who never got his just dues. Between Don and Benny Carter, they did most of Pearl's arrangements."

Louis Bellson and his wife, entertainer Pearl Bailey,

as depicted on a performance program, circa 1960.

As theirs was an interracial marriage, Bellson and Bailey encountered only few incidents of racial prejudice during their 38 years together, Bellson said.

"Because Pearl was the kind of lady she was, there were many people who by-passed that," Bellson said. "She was one of those people everyone loved. We had a few incidents over the years, but not many. I received a letter when we first got married that was very derogatory, very racial. We didn't think anything of it, but rather, we felt sorry for the person who wrote the letter."

With her career continuing to move forward, Bailey recorded several albums for Coral during the early 1950s, and starred as a fortune-teller in the 1954 film, Carmen Jones. More starring roles followed, in the W.C. Handy biopic, St. Louis Blues, as well as the first filmed version of Gershwin's classic operetta, Porgy And Bess.

In 1959, a new recording contract (with Roulette) resulted in a change of direction. After her double-entendre LP, For Adults Only, was banned from radio play, it became a big seller and occasioned a string of similar albums during the early 1960s. She continued to perform on Broadway, and won a Tony award in 1970 for her title role in Hello, Dolly!. She briefly led her own television variety show in 1971.

"We are still trying to uncover those 15 shows that Pearl did on The Hollywood Palace," Bellson said. "She had three heavy-weights on every week. Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby and Andy Williams were on her first show. We had a 40-piece orchestra with strings. (Guitarist) Joe Pass and (bassist) Ray Brown were in the orchestra."

Bailey also provided voices for animations such as Tubby The Tuba (1976) and Disney's The Fox And The Hound (1981). She wrote humorous and inspirational books, including Hurry Up, America, And Spit. In 1989, she published an autobiography, Between You And Me. Bailey was named to the American delegation to the United Nations in 1976, and was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1988.

The Bellson's adopted two children, a daughter, Dee Dee, and a son, Tony. Bailey died on Aug. 17, 1990, at age 72.

In May 1952, Bellson led an all-star group in Los Angeles to record eight sides for Capitol Records as part of Gene Norman's Just Jazz series. All-star members included Clark Terry, trumpet; Juan Tizol, valve trombone/arranger; John Grass, French horn; Willie Smith, alto saxophone; Wardell Gray, tenor saxophone; Harry Carney, baritone saxophone; Billy Strayhorn, piano/arranger; Wendell Marshall, bass; and Shorty Rogers and Buddy Baker, arrangers.

In 1955, Bellson received a call from jazz promoter Norman Granz inviting him to be a member of the Jazz At The Philharmonic aggregate. He would do return stints with the JATP in 1967 and 1972.

"I have Norman Granz to thank for that," Bellson said. "Buddy Rich and I were the two drummers to go out on that 1955 tour. We had Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Clark Terry, Flip Phillips, Oscar Peterson, Zoot Sims, Herb Ellis and Ray Brown with us, too."

Under Granz's supervision, Bellson recorded a number of sides on Granz's Norgran Records label leading his own quintet. The ensemble included Charlie Shavers, trumpet; Zoot Sims, tenor sax; Don Abney, piano; and George Duvivier, bass.

"Through Norman, I got a chance to record with Art Tatum before he died and with Louie (Armstrong) and Ella (Fitzgerald)," Bellson said.

The album with Armstrong and Fitzgerald that Bellson is referring to is Ella And Louis Again, recorded on Granz's Verve Records in August 1957. In addition to Bellson and Armstrong's trumpet and vocals, other musicians for that session were Oscar Peterson, piano; Herb Ellis, guitar; and Ray Brown, bass.

Armstrong and Fitzgerald give swinging renditions on Don't Be That Way, They All Laughed, Autumn In New York, Stompin' At The Savoy, I Won't Dance, Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You?, Let's Call The Whole Thing Off, I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm, I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket, A Fine Romance, Love Is Here To Stay, and Learning The Blues.

"I owe a lot to Norman for giving me the opportunity to play with all those great players," Bellson said.

From 1955 to 1956, Bellson was featured with the Dorsey Brothers band. Two years earlier, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey patched up their differences and reunited to lead an orchestra they started together 18 years earlier. The partnership last until Tommy's untimely death in November 1956. Brother Jimmy died of lung cancer seven moths later.

Throughout the 1950s, Bellson continued touring with his wife while free-lancing as a drummer, composer and arranger.

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, the motion picture soundtrack of Assault On A Queen, and for what Ellington called "the most important thing I have ever done" - his Concerts of Sacred Music.

In 1966, Bellson toured briefly with both Basie and ex-boss Harry James. A few years later, Buddy Rich paid Bellson the supreme drummer-to-drummer/bandleader compliment. Rich asked Bellson to lead his (Buddy's) band on tour while he was temporarily disabled by a back injury. Bellson proudly accepted.

Louis Bellson, above, at his double-bass drum set as his Big Band Explosion played for listeners at Warner

Park in Canoga Park, CA, on June 23, 1985, during a free summer concert series. The bassist behind

Bellson is Dave Stone. -Photo by Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

Bellson has led his own orchestra almost steadily for more than forty-five years. He maintains four separate bands located in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and at Stanford University. His sidemen have included Blue Mitchell, Don Menza, Larry Novak, John Heard, Clark Terry, Pete and Conte Candoli, Snooky Young, and Dave Stone, among others.

His most current aggregation, Big Band Explosion, there is zest, humor, fervor and exultation. Everybody is having a good time, as well they should, inspired by their drummer-leader. One of his former employers understands. The distinguished Mr. Ellington has been quoted as saying, "Louis Bellson has all the requirements for perfection in his craft. He is the world's greatest drummer."

As a leader, Bellson has recorded over 100 albums on various labels including 150 MPH (1974), Explosion (1975), Prime Time (1977), Raincheck (1978), Dynamite (1979), Don't Stop Now (1984), Stephane Grapelli With Phil Woods And Louie Bellson (1987), Airmail Special: A Salute To The Big Band Masters (1990), Louie Bellson And His Big Band: Live From New York (1994), Explosion Band (1995), Louie In London (which The London Suite, a track from that album, 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 exquisitely sensitive lyrics 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, B. I. S.

As a prolific creator of music, both written and improvised, Bellson's compositions (more than 300 to date) and arrangements embrace jazz, jazz/rock/fusion, romantic orchestral suites, symphonic works and a ballet. Little known to many of his listeners, the versatile Bellson is also a poet and a lyricist.

In June 1993, he performed Tomus I, II, III with the Washington Civic Symphony in historic Constitution Hall. 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.

Continuing the tradition of keeping performances as a "family affair," Bellson's daughter, Dee Dee, occasionally performs with her father's groups.

"She's an excellent singer," said the proud father. "When people come to hear our band and she sings, they want to know if she has any records out. I'm trying to get her recorded."

Wherever Bellson performs, his wife, Francine, accompanies him for P.R. support and to help sell her husband's CDs.

Even in his twilight years, Bellson is always creating, delving into new projects. In March 2000, the drumming great finished what he called "a very important project at USC." It was a scared concert/jazz ballet done in the spirit of Ellington's Sacred Concerts.

"After Duke did his first Sacred Concert, and I was with him when he did that at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in 1956, he told me that I should do one of these concerts in the future," Bellson said. "We did one. We had a full string section, choir and big band."

The first half of the concert featured twelve original pieces of scared music composed by Bellson with the second half an original jazz ballet, Bellson said.

"Bobby Shew did the jazz ballet playing a trumpet that Dizzy Gillespie performed on in 1962," Bellson said. "We recorded it and it came out great. We are still looking for a recording company to pick it up."

A dynamic soloist, Louis Bellson is a "total drummer," playing most of the

time in support of and for the band as he did in this June 23, 1985, photo.

- Photo by Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

With the exception of the late comedian, Bob Hope, who has made the most White House appearances, Bellson holds, along with his late wife, Pearl Bailey, the second highest number of White House appearances.

As an author, he has published more than a dozen books on drums and percussion. He is currently at work with his biographer on a book chronicling his remarkable career and bearing the same name as one of his compositions - Skin Deep.

Bellson's numerous accolades are legion. He has been voted into the Halls of Fame for both Modern Drummer 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 received the prestigious American Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1994.

Now, as he has throughout his career, Bellson devotes as much time as possible to drum and band clinics at high schools, colleges and music stores. Aimed at student musicians of all ages, there are frequently as many professional musicians in attendance as there are youngsters, all eager and fascinated by the magic of the Bellson touch.

Bellson has attributed longevity to his craft from taking care of himself in the early years, he said.

"If you take care of yourself early on, then when you get into your 70s and 80s, you can still have some chops," Bellson asserted. "I never neglected pasta. I eat pasta almost every day. I've never been a drinker. I never smoked or got into heavy drugs. That's an important factor I impress on youngsters when I do my clinics. You have to be physically and mentally in shape to be a good player."

While "Old Man Time" cheats no one, Bellson also realizes that there will come a time when his playing days will come to an end.

"One thing that gets all of us is age, when your muscles go out," he said. "When that time comes, I'll just bow out because I've had a good career. I do know eventually that time creeps up and I'm not going to fool myself or my public and have them say, 'What is that old man doing up there?'"

But that time will have to wait, as Bellson still has some more serious drumming to do.

Whether big band or small, whether at colleges, clubs or concert halls, Bellson still maintains a respectable schedule of clinics and performances each year. He also continues to create new drum technology for Remo, Inc., of which he is vice president.

Through it all, Bellson has given to the jazz arena and for all who love the thrilling sounds of drums done wild, a high-level of artistry graced with humility, gentleness, creative brilliance, and above all, a sense of tradition.

"I'd like to know that I've created something artistic to the percussion world, both as a player and as a composer/arranger," Bellson said. "I'd like to think of myself as being creative and having created something that will last. I feel that I have to give credit to guys like Big Sid Catlett, Jo Jones and Chick Webb for my being the player I am today. Gene (Krupa) and Buddy (Rich) were big influences on me, too. Music is a very vital force in everyone's lives. What these teachers have given me, I feel it's important for me to continue that wonderful legacy. It makes me feel good that I've done something for our young people that they can pass on. That's better if someone gave me a million dollars to record some corny thing. I can't do that."