In Memoriam: LOUIE BELLSON
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“Not only is Louie Bellson the world’s greatest drummer,” Duke Ellington said of his former drummer, “he is also the world’s greatest musician.”
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Louie Bellson
[Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni],
drummer-bandleader-composer-arranger
(July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009)
© Los Angeles Times
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It was my pleasure to meet Louie Bellson in April of 1999. The occasion was the UCLA celebration of Duke Ellington’s 100th birthday, organized and hosted by guitarist and professor Kenny Burrell of UCLA’s Jazz Studies Program. I was one of three poets invited to take part in this three-day centennial festival; the other two were poets Michael S. Harper and Lucille Clifton. Among the participating musicians were Milt Jackson, Lalo Schifrin, Anthony Brown, Billy Childs, Ray Brown, John Clayton, Jack Nimitz, George Bohannon, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Smith, Bobby RodrĂguez, and veteran Ellingtonians: Fred Berry and Louie Bellson. I found it enlightening toi hear Bellson tell of how Ellington had written out parts for everyone in the orchestra for the performance of his renowned Afro-Eurasian Eclipse. “Hey, Duke,” Bellson said, “where’s my part?” To which Ellington replied: “Louie, you’ll know what to do. You’re the drummer.” During the daytime lectures and presentations at UCLA’s Royce Hall, a frail Louis Bellson sat in the audience with his second wife Francine. With his jacket draped over his shoulders, he looked every ounce the dignitary. One morning Dr. Burrell asked from the stage if the room were getting too warm, and should he have the thermostat turned down? Francine Bellson spoke up at once. “Don’t you touch that thermostat,” she yelled up at Burrell. “My husband is cold.” Turning to have a look at her, I wondered how Bellson’s first wife, Pearl Bailey, would have handled the moment. He simply smiled and looked straight ahead.
– Al Young
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Courtesy photo
Pearl Bailey pauses for husband Louie’s tender light
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Don Heckman: Louie Bellson Dies at 84 (Los Angeles Times, February 17, 2009)
The Drummerworld tribute
Scott Yanow’s biography and discography for Louie Bellson at AllMusic.com
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The only official Louie Bellson website
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Duke Ellington conducts his band in a 1957 performance of “Skin Deep,” which Bellson composed as a vehicle for his own percussive brilliance.
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